Fairy Tail's Guardian Fox
by Soah1086
Summary: For as long as members of Fairy Tail could remember, the fox had been there since the beginning in peaceful slumber in their basement. They were told he was always watching over them and would provide anyone in need an ear to listen. So what happens when a certain guild brings the fox's beloved guild down around it's ears? "Who the hell is attacking my family!" No planned pairing
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Alright, so this is my first story on this website. I've done another one before but it was posted elsewhere and I never got around to finish it.

Let me just point this out now: I'm terrible at writing a story. My biggest weakness, I feel, lies in describing things. So I hope you can look past these flaws and enjoy what I have written. This idea came to me last night after reading a few similar stories. Honestly, I'm not sure how long I can continue to write this story since it was a spur of the moment idea that I reeeaaaaally wanted to written so I could possibly get someone interested in taking over if it came to that. The funny part is that this entire chapter was not part of my original inspiration, it's the next chapter that I wanted written more than anything, but I felt this prologue needed to be here first.

Another reason I wanted to write this is to get my feet wet for a series I've really wanted written as well. My plan is to make a series based on crossovers staring my characters from the game Phantasy Star Online 2. I feel like it's got the perfect set up for crossover fan fiction since the ships used to take players to missions, called campships, literally rip open portals in space to take the players to the planets missions are being held. Tell me that isn't the perfect set up for a crossover. Anyways, I really do hope you like this idea, and I also really hope my writing doesn't suck too bad. I know for me if constant mistakes pop up while I read something it's a major turn off to a story.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Naruto in any way.**

* * *

Today was a sad day.

Sitting next to a bed in a room of a house built into a tree of the forest outside of Magnolia was man with bright golden spiky hair. He was wearing a familiar red haori with black flames along the bottom. Under the haori was black long sleeved shirt that had red spirals on the shoulders, hidden by the haori, and black pants that ended at the shins. Where the pants ended, bandages started that ended at his ankles with black open-toed sandals as his footwear. Wrapped around his forehead was a hitai-ate with the leaf insignia of a long forgotten village of ninjas. This was Naruto Uzumaki.

With his once bright cerulean eyes, now dulled by the day's events, was looking down upon the bed at its lone inhabitant. One of his greatest comrades was lying, motionless, under its sheets. Her right hand had found refuge in both of his during her final moments. A lone tear found its way down his whiskered cheek as he closed his eyes and began remembering the events leading up to this point.

* * *

It all started with the war. Yes, that horrible war that had cursed him into his immortal status. It had been a war for the Biju to enact a world-encompassing illusion to bring about a false peace. He wasn't about to let that happen, nor were the shinobi that had called him comrade. All five of the nations of shinobi and the samurai had united against a common enemy, Madara Uchiha. Or, rather, the one they believed to be him. The real one had entered the fray in the middle of the war, revealing the other to be a fake. The fake was later revealed to be Obito Uchiha, another who was thought to be long dead. Both Uchiha had been planning this war for a very long time and were very close to succeeding. But they had overlooked one detail, one small detail that would lead to their defeat this day.

That detail was Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto, with the help of the Konoha Rookie 12, Sasuke and his team, Orochimaru, the current Kages, the previous Hokages, his senseis, Killer Bee, and what was left of the Shinobi Alliance, thwarted the Uchiha's Eye of the Moon plan.

But victory had come at a terrible cost.

With the Juubi under Obito's control, it had become nearly impossible to fight him. Naruto needed to take control of the Juubi away from Obito. The way to do so, as instructed by Kurama, the Kyubi no Kitsune, was similar to how Naruto had subjugated Kurama's chakra. He was going to have to rip the Juubi from Obito in a dangerous game of tug-of-war. Only it wouldn't be just chakra he was ripping out. It took the combined might of all of his comrades to give him the opening he needed to grab hold of the Juubi's foul being. The opening did not come free. The price was the lives of his comrades. With the never ending determination his comrades knew him for, Naruto ripped the Juubi out of Obito and subjugated it within himself. With Kurama's help, the Juubi was forever sealed away within his body. With the Juubi's power in his grasp, it was mere child's play to finish off the wretched Uchihas once and for all.

Years after the war had ended; Naruto found himself wandering the Elemental Nations. The shinobi system died out soon after the war with the remainder that had not taken part, namely the children and the elderly, abandoning the life style all-together. This effectively made him the last of his kind.

With the Juubi sealed away inside him, its power flowing in his veins, Kurama informed him of a detail he didn't want to hear. Coupled with the longevity Uzumakis were known for and the Juubi's near limitless power he had gained immortality.

He despised it.

Why should he be allowed to cheat death when the others couldn't?

So he wandered. Searching for something, anything, to give him a purpose once again.

* * *

Thousands of years had passed without bearing the fruits of a true purpose for him. Early on he had traveled to each of the remnants of the shinobi villages to gather the scrolls that bore the jutsu left behind by the era. The remainder of the shinobi left behind by the war understood what he was doing by collecting this knowledge. He didn't want it to be used again to threaten the safety of the world once again. So he shouldered the burden of being the keeper of this knowledge so that the Elemental Nations would find peace. During the years of traveling he had learned every jutsu that he had collected. A couple thousand years was more than enough time to do so.

Eventually he began hearing rumors from sailors of a new land beyond the sea that had people with incredible abilities that they described as magic. Fearing the possibility of another disaster such as the war, he immediately sought passage to this new land and come upon a country known as Fiore. Upon arriving he began to observe the people called mages from afar. While the magic spells produced by the mages appeared to be similar to jutsu he could immediately pick up the differences. The energy he sensed the spells used was not chakra produced by the casters. He could sense the chakra there, as it was in all living being, but what he sensed had his eyes widening. These mages were somehow absorbing nature energy naturally and that was what powering their spells.

With this knowledge he decided to find out more about the mages and what better way to do so then to ask one directly? He had found himself in a town called Magnolia where a new mage guild had just been established: Fairy Tail. He had learned from locals he had questioned that the mage guilds in Fiore were a lot like the shinobi villages in the sense that they were given missions to complete. He had wanted to ask more about them but they hadn't known much themselves and had directed him to Fairy Tail so he could get the answers he wanted form its guild master. Thanking the people for their help, he then headed towards the guild and soon arrived.

'What an odd name.' Had been his thought as he saw four members of the guild having a photo taken of them in front of the guild hall.

The group consisted of three men and a girl. The first of the men was a tall buff looking fellow with a strangely long head with a black afro and a grin on his face. 'Tree…' Was all he could think of when looking at the man. The second was the shortest of the three with slicked back silver hair with a smirk and an eye patch over his right eye. The third had blonde hair in the style reminiscent of Sasuke's hair style, though he had a cocky grin that you'd never find on the proud Uchiha. The girl was expressing herself a whole lot more than the men. She had extremely long, wavy blonde hair with a large ahoge poking up. She had her eyes closed, laughing while she had her arms wide open, proudly showing off the guild she was a part of. …And were those small wings coming out of her head?

Seeing how happy the girl was brought small smile to Naruto's lips. 'Heh. A bit carefree, that one.' He thought.

Naruto waited until the photo was taken to get the guild members attention as he walked up to them.

"Yo!" He said, waving a hand.

The four turned to see a man with spiky blonde hair in a red haori with black flames on the bottom walking up to them with a smile on his face. 'Are those whiskers on his face?' Was the general thought between the group. They couldn't sense an ounce of Eternano coming from the man so either he wasn't a mage or he was really good at hiding his power. If only they knew.

As came to a stop in front of him, the girl was the first to speak up. "Hello, there Mister! Welcome to Fairy Tail!" She greeted. "Are you here to give us our first official quest?" She asked as she held her hands behind her back cutely.

"Unfortunately, no." He replied shaking his head. "You see, I'm not from around here and wish to know more about mages and magic in general." He explained. "The locals directed me here, saying I could get answers from the guild master."

The girl nodded. "They were right, I'd more than happy to tell you all about magic" She smiled brightly and held out her hand. "My name's Mavis Vermillion, the first Master of Fairy Tail!" She stated proudly.

'This chibi is the master?' His eyes widening slightly and he took her hand in his and gave a firm shake and. "Naruto Uzumaki, wandering sage, at your service." He supplied with a trademark grin.

The group was a little stunned at the declaration of this man being a sage. He didn't look at day past 20!

"You're a sage?" The now identified Mavis questioned. "But you're so young." She pointed out.

Naruto just smiled. "I'm not as young as I look." Mavis didn't like that mischievous gleam in his eye. "Besides, aren't you a little too chibi to be a guild master?" He said with a grin.

Mavis huffed and puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms. "I'll have you know that I'm a really strong mage!"

Naruto let out a short laugh. "See? Can't judge a book by its cover." He said with a large grin.

Mavis was still miffed about being called a chibi but agreed. "You're right, I'm sorry." Offering an apologetic smile.

Naruto shook his head, the grin still on his face. "Don't worry about it."

Mavis huffed again at seeing that his grin hadn't dropped, but she turned towards the guild and waved him over. "Follow me to my office, I'll answer all your questions there." She started walking towards the entrance. "Then after I'll introduce you to the others."

Naruto nodded then followed the small master into the guild. Little did he know, this guild held the true purpose he had been searching for since the war.

* * *

Naruto learned everything he had been looking for about magic. He learned of Eternano and of the magic containers that were in every mage. He learned of the many different things magic could accomplish and was once again reminded of the similarities between the two energies and the techniques they made possible. He also was able to confirm that his sage training allowed him to take in the Eternano the same way the mages do. However, the limits of what he could do were the same as what normally happened with Sage Mode. While he could take in Eternano, he could only use it for a duration before he had to consciously take in more. It was also a bit more potent than normal Nature Energy, meaning it resulted in a much stronger Sage Mode. He soon discovered, though, that even though he had Eternano, he couldn't produce a single spell that the mages could. He was still only able to use his jutsu, but that wasn't really that much of a drawback considering the sheer amount of jutsu he was capable of pulling off.

After his questions were answered, Mavis had asked where he came from. It was obvious to her that he wasn't kidding when he said he wasn't from around here from the amount of knowledge he had on magic. Or lack thereof. It was a reasonable request, he thought, but he wasn't about to tell her everything. He doubt she would believe him about most of it. So he weaved a tale of half truths, saying he came from a land across the sea that was ravaged by a war a few years back that he was a survivor of. He told her of his people's source of power and demonstrated a few jutsus for her to see. She had never heard of people being able to produce solid clones before. She knew about thought projections, but those were definitely not capable of what his 'Shadow Clones' were capable of. He had kept the fact he had beings that could be considered demons sealed within him a secret. And that one made him immortal. That wasn't something she needed to know at the moment.

They were in that office for hours, swapping stories of their adventures. Mavis found Naruto to be quite pleasant company, she could tell even with the limited amount of interactions they had that that there'd never be a dull moment with Naruto around. Naruto learned of Mavis' status as a master tactician, reminding him of Shikamaru. An infinitely more motivated and expressive Shikamaru.

After their Q and A session, Naruto was promptly invited to join Fairy Tail. At first he wasn't sure he should. After all, he knew that if they became friends, he would eventually have to watch her die while he could do nothing but watch. Damn immortality! She had noticed his indecision as he had a hand to his chin, indicating he was doing a lot of thinking on his decision. She made her way over to him and place a hand on his shoulders and gave him a warm smile. The words that she spoke next would be ones that he would never forget.

"Let me tell you why we chose the name Fairy Tail." She began. "Do Fairies have tails? Nobody knows. It's an eternal mystery. In other words: an eternal adventure" He looked at her, giving her his full attention. "We want to make a big family." She continued. "One that isn't picky about who is a part of it." She let go of his shoulder and walked to a window to look out it. "One that takes pride in the bonds shared between members." She turned to gaze at him once more. "I tell just by looking into your eyes, Naruto, that you have a good heart." She stood in front of him once more. "Even if you don't want to join now, you would always be welcomed with open arms here." She smiled warmly once more. "No matter what kind of past you've endured, what matters to us is the you here now." Now she was grinning with her eyes closed.

Naruto just stared with wide eyes.

…Well shit, she had him at big family.

* * *

It had been five years since Naruto officially became the fifth member of Fairy Tail. During that time Mavis' goal to create one big family had come true and already all the members had strong bonds with one another. Naruto and Mavis had become great friends during this time as well. They had gone on many missions together, both the mundane ones and the incredibly difficult ones. Even though she was Fairy Tail's master, Mavis had refused to just sit and have the members do all the missions since the guild was still young. The two had grown close as if they had been siblings since they were born. It was rare to catch one without the other, in fact it seemed that the only time they weren't around each other was when they were in their respective homes.

Eventually, Naruto had decided that he would tell Mavis his story. The true story. They were in the master's office when he told her his story, to keep it private. He told her about the war and what happened during it. About the Biju, what they were and the two currently residing in him. Kurama and him would have conversations every so often, but those had been few and far between this last century. He explained how the Juubi had made him immortal. After he had spilled the beans her reaction was not what he had expected.

She was smiling.

"I knew it had to be something like that." She had said.

She explained that she had known it was something like that since the day they met, all she had to do was look into his eyes. While he was good at hiding what he was thinking with his body language, his eyes were his biggest tell. They were windows into his very soul. She told him that her opinion hadn't changed on him at all. She was proud that she had been able to get him to make a bond once more. She would cherish the bond for as long as she lived.

The feeling couldn't have been more mutual.

Now, after 5 years had passed since he joined, he was happy. Truly happy. He had comrades who trusted him, which he trusted equally. He was part of a family, something he never had the chance to experience. They would be there for the good times and the bad, through thick and thin. He could enjoy the time he had thoroughly, never having to worry about things such as wars or battles to the death. So there he sat, at Fairy Tail's bar laughing the night away with his master and sister figure sitting on his shoulders laughing right along with him.

But all good things must come to an end.

It had been a bright morning, as expected of spring season, Naruto was on his way to the guild hall to go through the routine he had so dearly loved to go through each day. The routine of being in a family. Before he entered the hall he noticed dark clouds forming on the horizon. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he shrugged and walked into the hall to be greeted by the sounds of his family laughing the day away already. He walked through the building greeting the old and new faces before he got to bar where Mavis was sitting, smiling brightly at him. He smiled right back, until he saw her face contort in pain and a hand shoot up to her chest, clutching the clothing above it. The heart attack she suffered rendered her unconscious as she began to sway, about to fall off her perch. Naruto was there in an instant and she landed in his arms.

"Master is hurt; I'm taking her to the doctor!" He shouted before his and her form flickered and disappeared in an instant. The members recognized it as his **Hiraishin no Justu(Flying Thunder God Jutsu)** that the blonde had placed all around the town. Immediately all the members began filing out of the hall and rushing to the hospital they knew Naruto had taken her to. Purehito was the first to arrive and he found Naruto leaning against a wall outside of the emergency room with a hard look in his eyes.

"Naruto, how is she?" The silver haired man asked quickly.

"They've got their best doctors with her right now; they're stabilizing her and diagnosing her at the moment." He replied, never so much as glancing at Purehito. The man nodded once, the town loved Fairy Tail's first master she was always there for people who needed her. It made sense that the best doctors the town had would already be in there trying to heal her right away. By the time the conversation had ended, the rest of the guild members had found their way there. All had scared looks, none wanted to think that they could lose their master so suddenly.

It would be an hour later that the head doctor of the hospital would walk out of the emergency room, causing all heads to snap in his direction. They all saw something not a single soul wished to see: The man had a grim look on his face. The man sighed heavily, knowing the information he had was something no one there wanted to hear, but nonetheless had to.

"Mavis is stabilized for the moment." He began. "It pains me to say this, but she's contracted a new heart disease that hasn't been encountered before." He lowered his head his voice shaking. "I-I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do…"

And so began the uproar.

"WHAT?! What do you mean 'there's nothing we can do,' you're a doctor!" One member shouted. "Do your job!" Another shouted.

**"BE QUIET."** A voice hissed. It's voice sounding demonic.

All eyes turned to Naruto, his eyes were blood red with the black slits like a demon. But that's not what got everyone's attention. It was the tears freely streaming down his face.

**"If he says it's impossible, then it is. Don't you think he's taking this just as hard, if not more so, than all of us?"** He spoke. He felt absolutely hopeless. He knew medical ninjutsu, but he was nowhere near a professional at the art. His massive chakra reserves already made it difficult enough, but something as delicate as heart surgery was far beyond his capabilities. So he could imagine how a trained professional could feel especially if they knew the person and loved them like they were family. One glance at the doctor was enough to confirm such; the man was visibly shaking and could barely hold his sorrow.

The Fairy Tail family could see it too; they also knew how much the town loved Mavis. The ones who had spoken out lowered their heads in shame. How could they do that to one of their own, even if they weren't part of the guild?

Naruto's features softened and his voice lost the demonic edge as he turned to address the doctor. "How much time does she have left?" He asked softly.

The doctor raised his head, but couldn't look Naruto in the eye. "…A little less than a week by our prediction." He turned to leave. "She'll be waking up soon, we suggest you take her home when she does. She deserves to be with her family until the end." The doctor then walked into his office.

Naruto turned to his family. "I'm going to take her to the house I built for her in the forest when she wakes up. Please meet us there." He said softly before heading into the emergency room with Purehito following him. The guild members all nodded their heads slowly before heading out of the hospital and heading for the house Naruto had built for their master during the 5 years he had been a member.

* * *

Inside the emergency room Naruto was sitting in a chair next to his master waiting in silence for her to wake up with Purehito on the other side of the bed in the same position. Naruto spared him a glance to see how he was doing. The man wasn't any better than the rest of his family. He was good and hiding his emotion, but Naruto's trained eyes easily picked up the subtle trembling that told him the man was just as shaken up as he was. Purehito was too busy staring at the first master to notice Naruto's analysis of him.

A soft groan and a fluttering of her eyes alerted the two to their master waking up. Naruto was the first to speak. "Mavis-chan…" He brought himself closer to her side and gently grasped her hand, letting her know he was there for her. Her eyes slowly opened and she gazed at the man she would call her brother without hesitation.

"Naru..to.." She spoke weakly. "Where… am I?"

"You're in the hospital Mavis-chan." He replied with sadness heavily in his voice.

She looked around slowly and caught sight of Purehito on her right. "Purehito… You're here too?"

"Of course, Master, we're all part of the same family." He replied without missing a beat.

Mavis' gaze shifted back to her surrogate brother. "I'm not… doing too well… Am I?" See asked rhetorically. She already knew the answer just by looking at both of her family members' faces.

Damn her intelligence.

"How… long?"

"A week at most." She could tell how much it had hurt for Naruto to say that. He was one step away from releasing the flood gates.

She couldn't damn her status hard enough for putting her brother into that state.

"We're going to take you to the house in the forest so you can see everyone else." Mavis nodded slowly.

Naruto removed the sheets that had covered her up and picked her up bridal style in his arms. Having already known how his jutsu works, Purehito had his hand on Naruto's right shoulder, prepared to make the jump. Once he was sure Mavis was as comfortable as he could get her, Naruto activated his jutsu and the room vanished from view, replaced with the room of a house built into the tree of the forest outside of Magnolia.

* * *

For the next 6 days, members of Fairy Tail had constantly visited. Fairy Tail had informed the town of the dire news, which had civilians coming to the house as well to bid their final good-byes to their beloved Master of Fairy Tail. During this time, Mavis had named Purehito the second master of Fairy Tail. This decision confused a good portion of the members, including Purehito himself. Everyone had fully expected Naruto to be the one selected.

"During the entire time we've been a guild, Naruto never gained fame. He was known only by Magnolia to be a member." She began to explain. "He always protected us from inside the shadows. He has always been our guardian. I know he doesn't want to be the master unless he has to, because he's already doing the only thing he's ever wanted to do." She looked straight into Naruto's eyes. "Protecting his comrades." The smile that followed pulled at his heart strings. "Purehito will be a fine Master, I've shown him everything that the master of Fairy Tail needs to do already." And she had, she had always planned on naming him the second Master. "He will take care of all of you." Purehito was speechless.

Eventually he snapped himself out of his stupor. "Of course Master, I won't let you down." He said with nothing but pure conviction.

"I know you won't."

Finally the dreaded day had come. All of the members and townsfolk had said their good-byes and had left the house. Mavis knew she had little time left, and had requested to be alone with her brother for her final moments. The remaining people, namely the original members, nodded and respected her wishes. When it was just the two of them Mavis spoke.

"Do you remember the island we found together?" She asked weakly.

"Tenrou? Of course I remember. I helped you cast the spell that made it holy ground for members of Fairy Tail. I helped you develop the Three Great Fairy Magics there as well." He recalled.

"I wish it to be my final resting place." He nodded instantly.

"Of course, I promise it will happen. And I never-"

"Break your promises." she finished. "I know." She smiled as brightly as she could.

"Naruto…" She held out her right hand weakly. He took it in both of his as gently as he could.

"I'm here Imouto-chan."

"When I'm gone, you will look after my little fairies right?" She knew the answer she just wanted to hear him say it. Tears were falling from her cheeks.

"Until the end of time. That's the promise of a lifetime." He said without missing a beat.

"Mine or yours?" She chuckled weakly.

"Both." She looked at him curiously, the tears still falling freely from her eyes.

"You will be forever alive in mine and the family's hearts." He stated. "Nothing will ever change that."

Her eyes widened slightly, causing even more tears to fall.

"Thank you… for everything you have and will continue to do for me." Her strength was beginning to fade. "We… may not be related by blood… but I'm proud to call you Aniki…" Her eyes began to lose the light in them.

"I love….you…Naru…to.."

"I love you too Mavis."

Her lips twitched upwards in a smile as she took her final breath.

Mavis Vermillion, the first Master of Fairy Tail, Naruto's Imouto-chan, had passed away.

He sat there for many minutes, still holding her hand as if just that act alone would somehow bring her back. It never happened. A single tear found its way down his whiskered cheek.

"Good-bye…"

Today was truly a sad day.

* * *

Within the week, Mavis had been buried on Tenrou Island just as she had requested. Naruto hadn't spoken to anyone since she had passed away. None could bring themselves to interact with him. They knew he needed time to himself, as they needed it too. Mavis' passing had hit the guild hard. It would never be the same without her. Her final words had continually played through his mind as he made his next decision.

Seeking out Fairy Tail's second master, he found the man in the Master's Office. Before, members would call it Mavis' Office, but Purehito had been adamant about changing the name to Master's. No one could blame him for doing so. He knocked and entered upon receiving permission to by the man inside.

"Naruto." He nodded in greeting. "What can I do for you?" He raised an eyebrow when Naruto held out piece of parchment with writing he recognized to be one of Naruto's fuinjutsu seals.

"Mavis wanted me to protect the family and that's what I'm planning on doing." He began. "I'm going to protect the guild from the shadows but only when you need me." It was well known that Naruto was the guild's strongest member, and even then it was known that he had never shown more than a portion of his true strength.

"I'm not going to baby you though; the members need to be able to walk on their own two feet when push comes to shove." He handed the seal to Purehito. "So I'm placing myself into a hibernation of sorts, until the moment comes where the guild truly needs my strength." He pointed to the seal. "That is basically the emergency switch, when placed on me I will begin to wake up. The process should take a only a few minutes." Purehito nodded, while he was sad that Naruto was going to do this, he understood why he wanted to. "I've prepared another one as a fail-safe that will wake me up if the guild hall were to be destroyed." He turned to leave. "Fairy Tail will always be my family, and I will always be there when the guild needs me."

"Is there anything you need to stay in this state?" Purehito asked. It was a good question.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I will need food once a month for energy to stay asleep."

"Anything specific?"

"…"

"…"

"A massive bowl of miso ramen."

"…I should've known." Purehito dead panned. The blondes love for ramen was a well known addiction of his.

Naruto turned his face to Purehito again. A grin was revealed.

"You know me." Was his simple response. "By the way, while I'm asleep I'm going to take the form of a massive fox with nine tails."

Purehito raised an eyebrow. "Any specific reason for that?"

"It's the form I need to take to cast the jutsu."

"Ah, alright then." Before Naruto could leave he was stopped by Purehito.

"Naruto." Naruto turned to find the man behind him holding his hand out.

"Thank you." Naruto raised an eyebrow but shook the hand regardless.

"Thank you for being there for Mavis when she needed you. Thank you for being there for the guild whenever we needed you. Thank you for taking it upon yourself to be our guardian." Those words were from deep within the man's heart.

"I'll do anything for my family." Naruto stated without missing a beat with a look of fierce determination on his face.

Purehito nodded, and the hand shake was broken. Naruto walked out of the office and found himself looking over the guild for what he figured would be the last time in awhile.

The guild was silent.

All of his family members had downcast expressions on their faces. He looked over to the newest generation of youngsters to join. The last one to join was about a month ago if he remembered correctly. They were taking he passing just as hard as any other member. They had all had time to get to know Mavis before her passing.

They would be the last generation with that chance.

…Or so he believed.

Looking over his family again, he just couldn't stand it. Mavis wouldn't want her family to be so depressed! They should be laughing and drinking the night away just like always!

Naruto hopped up to the second floor railing and sat on it catching everyone's attention in the process.

"Oi oi oi…" Getting louder as he continued. "When the hell did this become a place for sadness?" He asked rhetorically. "Do you think she'd want you to be all mopey instead of having a good time just because she isn't here anymore?" Before anyone could say anything he continued. "I'll tell you the answer! It's a big fat NO!" He hopped down to the first floor once and grabbed a mug on the bar counter and prompted the waitress behind to fill his cup, which she did. He then turned to his family once more and held his mug high.

"TO MAVIS!" He shouted and promptly downed his drink.

It was as if a switch was flipped. The ones that had beverages in their hands raised their cups as well.

"TO MAVIS!" They all shouted in perfect sync and downed their drinks as well, with the ones that couldn't grabbing their own from the bar and chanting when they could.

An hour later and the guild was just as rowdy as ever. Family laughing with one another, music being played, or attempting to be played. Guy with the damn guitar was drunk off his ass. All was seemingly back to normal.

That was enough for him.

With a small smile on his lips, he headed into the basement to the area he had prepared for his slumber. His spot was across the room from the stairs, easily visible from the stairs. He wanted the members to know he was there any time they needed him to be. Oh the spot was a large pillow he had made for himself to sleep on. He may be turning into an animal that's used to the forest, but if he could have some luxury he would have it damnit!

Nodding to himself once, he slapped his hands together. Concentrating he began to draw on Kurama's energy. The act caused the fox to stir slightly in his own slumber but otherwise he stayed asleep. Naruto had long ago mastered the ability to fully transform into Kurama, just like Bee. No longer was the fox a golden version with black lines all over its body, it was now a perfect replica of Kurama himself. Nowhere near as big, mind you, he wouldn't have fit in the basement were that the case. Instead he just grew to about double the size of an average horse. Satisfied, he nodded once then took his sleeping position and casted his hibernation jutsu. His eyes grew heavy and he closed them completely, before losing himself to blissful sleep he muttered one last thing.

"I'll watch over them for as long as I can… Imouto-chan…"

Sleep claimed him moments later.

* * *

And there we go, prologue = complete. I sincerely hope the writing wasn't too bad. I'm open to any and all pointers.

I know some points in here may or may not go against the time line, which is why I wanted to refrain from mentioning a year. It isn't specified how Mavis dies nor what year she dies so I figured I could kinda make my own timeline. With Naruto being asleep he won't know what year it is, but once I start bringing in the main characters I'll be sticking to the timeline as closely as I can. Also with the photo scene I admit I was intentionally lazy so I could link to the picture with that scene on the wiki. It should be on my profile by the time this chapter goes up.

Next chapter the main characters start showing up and interacting with "9-tails-san." As I have taken a liking to having the ones that don't know his name call him that. If you can think of a better name for the kiddies to call him then by all means, throw me some suggestions.

I don't plan on having any pairings with Naruto as I sincerely doubt my ability to write a good one, so for now I want it to just be friendship relations.

Thanks for taking the time to read it! :)


	2. Chapter 2: Nine-san

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail!**

Well after all the encouragement I got yesterday, I just had to sit down and get another chapter out! I couldn't believe it, in less than 24 hours this story had gained over 100 favorites and follows with over 20 reviews! WHAT IS DIS?! I actually wrote something interesting?! Color me surprised! With my confidence in my writing skills in the sky at the moment, I hope I didn't get too cocky and screw up with this chapter, heh. Enjoy!

* * *

"Whoa…"

This was the only thing the blonde teen could mutter as his gaze was fixed on object he never thought he'd lay eyes on. Or rather an animal. A giant orange fox with nine tails to be exact. Its mouth was outlined with black along with the area around its eyes leading to its ears as the same color. It was just laying there snoozing without a care in the world. What in the hell was it doing in the guild's basement?

"That tends to be the reaction most have upon seeing the Fox for the first time."

The youth turned to see the second Master of Fairy Tail: Purehito. The man was now much older. He was now sporting a beard that went below his shirt. His hair has also grown longer and was now reaching just below his shoulders. He was now wearing a large black and white fur cloak with a large red Fairy Tail Insignia on the back. Under the cloak he was wearing a purple short sleeved shirt with khaki pants and a black leather belt. He also had a pair of brown boots mostly hidden under his pants. To complete his appearance was a long wooden staff, the tip of which had a decent sized Fairy Tail insignia carved out of wood.

"Uh… Master?"

"Hm?"

"Why the hell do we have a giant fox in our basement?" That had Purehito laughing loudly much to The blonde's confusion.

"Why, that's easy Makarov-kun." He gestured to the fox with his non-staff hand. "He's our guardian. He's watched over the guild since the day it was founded under the First."

Makarov Dreyar. A teenager with bright blonde hair that looked like it got blasted straight up with a wind spell and got stuck like that. His attire consisted of a white short sleeved shirt under an orange vest. He pants where a dark shade of blue along with a pair of plain brown shoes.

The now named Makarov widened his eyes. "He watches over us?" He looked at the Fox, then back to the Master, then back to the Fox, then back to the Master. "How can he do that if he's asleep?" The Second laughed once more.

"Simple, he instructed us that we are only to wake him if it's absolutely necessary." Makarov scoffed.

"Some guardian. Does that mean he's only gonna protect us when we've already lost a member or three?" Makarov said, his voice dripping with resentment. What good was a protector that waited until after they needed him to do his job?

The Seconds eyes hardened a bit, but he let out a small chuckle all the same. Oh teenagers.

"Of course not, do you not realize the meaning behind his words?" The older mage asked.

Makarov's brow furrowed at that. There was a hidden meaning? He wasn't seeing it.

"No, it just doesn't seem like the best way to protect us." He responded looking back at the older mage.

"True, it's not but answer me this." He paused. "Would someone that has to be protected constantly ever going to get stronger?" Makarov's eyes widened once more. Well when you put it that way…

"So… He… Wants us to have the ability to stand up for ourselves?" Ding! "He's there for only when we're truly not ready for a threat?" He looked at his master expectantly.

Purehito made a gun with his hand and pretended to fire a shot at him. "Got it in one." He smiled. "Though that's not all he does either." Makarov looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "He also seems to have unknowingly become the guild's very own psychologist."

"…Huh?" Was the incredibly intelligent response.

Purehito chuckled once more, much to Makarov's chagrin.

"You see, since he's in such a deep sleep it makes him the perfect listener." Seeing that Makarov was still having a hard time processing this he continued. "We've had guild members come down to him and talk to him about their troubles." He began to pace slowly. "You know some of our members have had pasts that they'd rather forget, but it's rather unhealthy to keep it all bottled up." He stopped pacing and looked back at Makarov. "Those very same members often came down here during their early days in the guild to tell him their stories." He started to slowly stroke his beard.

Damn, Makarov kinda really wanted an awesome beard too at that moment.

"After their sessions with him, nine times out of ten their mood would improve drastically. Eventually the amount of times you'd see them come down would decrease until they would only visit once a month or every other month." Ok seriously, now you're just showing that damn thing off. "Even if he isn't technically protecting us every day, he's definitely protecting our hearts." He placed a hand on his chin and adopted fake thinking expression. "Why, I even believe that girl you've got the hots for has been down here a good amount times." He looked at his guild member with large grin.

Makarov sputtered. "I don't know who you're talking about!" He crossed his arms tightly and turned his face to hide the red tint.

If it was possible the Second's grin would have gotten larger. Oh, look, it did. "Oh you know, that young girl with the long pink hair?" Makarov's blush deepened. "What was her name? Oh right, it was Por-"

"OK! I get it!" Shouted indignantly, arms up in the air. "Can we please go back to the Fox now?"

Oh, look, the grin got wider again. How the hell are you not breaking your face old man?

"Oh right, the Fox, that's definitely a thing." He coughed into his hand then looked at Makarov with a serious expression. "Do you understand why he's here now, Makarov-kun?

Makarov's expression also went serious as he glanced at the fox then turned his attention back to the Second. "I do, Master." The Second had managed to change the blonde's opinion of the Fox quite easily with his explanation._ 'This place really is just one big happy family, isn't it?'_ He thought. Something had been nagging at him though.

"Master?"

"What is it, Makarov-kun?"

Makarov gestured to the fox with a hand.

"Does he have a name, or is he just called 'Fox'?"

"He does have a name, yes, but it's not my place to tell you." A hand went up to his bearded chin as he closed his eyes in thought. "Although... " He opened his eyes and Makarov could've sworn he saw a gleam. "When he was awake, he tended to give nicknames to a lot of the members." He looked to his guild member. "A lot of those were intended to tease, so how about you come up with one for him?"

"Me?" The second nodded. Makarov turned to the Fox and stared at him for awhile, taking in his features._ 'Well… He's orange. That's an odd fur color, but Orangey is a lame nickname.'_ He shook his head. The Second watch the blonde's internal conflict with amusement._ 'He's also got nine tails, and that's about it for his features that stand out. Nine Tails seems like a boring name though. Ah, to hell with it, if anyone can come up with a better one, we'll switch to that.'_ He groaned slightly.

"Can't come up with anything?" Purehito asked.

"Nothing clever anyway." Makarov shrugged. "Why not just call him Nine Tails? Then he'll have a first name and a surname."

"Heh, that's a rather obvious choice for a name." He chuckled.

Makarov sighed this time. "I know, but if someone can come up with a better one then we'll switch to that. But, I think Nine Tails is pretty appropriate."

The Second nodded. "Indeed, it does fit quite well." He smiled. "Alright, we shall call him Nine-san until further notice. "

* * *

And so they did. For many years the name stuck quite well. The name never left the guild however; he was one of Fairy Tail's closely guarded secrets.

Heh. The guardian being guarded. Well that answers the question of 'but who guards the guardian?' quite well doesn't it. Back on track.

Whenever the guild was hosting townsfolk as it usually did, the name wouldn't be passed around. The members were afraid that if a non-member found out about Nine, they would report him to the Magic Council and all hell would break loose. It's also why new guild members were tested before receiving the Second had taken to called "The Initiation." The test was quite simple really, upon joining the guild a person was asked a simple question: "What do you think is the most important thing for a guild to have." The answer being bonds. A few answers would be accepted though; family and comrades to name a couple. Most of the time however, upon being asked the question a new members would almost always say power or strength. A good amount of the times weren't because they truly believed that to be the question however. Most thought it was some sort of trick question, or what the one asking the question wanted to hear.

When the question was incorrectly the one asking it would immediately act as if nothing had happened and continue on with what they were previously doing, leaving the one asked confused. They would be asked again in a week, though during that week subtle hints would be directed towards the new member. Things like a story or maybe an example of guild members showing the strength of their bonds with their fellow members through actions. Most would understand almost immediately and would get the question right and would get to be initiated into the guild. There were some cases that would take longer, of course, but they eventually understood and all was well.

There we exceptions of course.

Most of said exceptions were ones that truly didn't understand, not because it was their fault, but because of how they grew up. There had been rare cases during the years that had past where a child would find themselves at the guild and were accepted in with open arms. Normal such an occurrence wasn't cause for any type of alarm, but the ones being discussed now were ones that had horrible pasts. Children made into orphans thanks to bandits, or ones whose parents simply did not care about them are just some examples. These kids just didn't have the ability to comprehend what such things as bonds and friendship meant. Either the Second or a veteran member the child had gotten attached to would circumvent the test and take them to have a long session with Nine Tails. They wouldn't get it right away but with many more visits to Nine they would slowly begin to open their hearts the way they were supposed to.

But, while those exceptions existed, there was also a single one that was the opposite. This exception lead to Fairy Tail's first ever excommunication from its family. One day a man in his early twenties found his way to the guild seeking entrance. The man was cocky and arrogant, your regular 'ol jerk. Due to the guilds little known open door policy, he wasn't turned away. Maybe we can guide him back to the path of light, had been the general thought of those that attempted to do such. A good portion of the members at the time immediately disliked the man. He rubbed people the wrong way with how he handled situations and talked to people. After he had received his guild stamp, he was tested by the barmaid that had given him the stamp.

"Power, of course." He scoffed as if it was the most obvious answer.

Many members who had heard the answer narrowed their eyes, while the barmaid just nodded and went back to her duties. The man wandered a bit until he found the door to the basement. It had a sign marked 'Initiated members only.' Shrugging he began to walk towards it, assuming having gotten the guild stamp meant he was 'initiated' whatever that meant. He approached the door but was halted a strong hand. The man growled and turned to face the idiot that decided to get in his way, only to come face to face with the Second.

"I'm sorry, but only members that have been initiated are allowed in there." He said with an icy glare.

Scoffing once again, the man muttered, "Whatever." and spoke clearly, "And how do I get 'initiated'." Rolling his eyes.

The Second narrowed his in response. "You will know when the time comes, for now you are free to take quests as a member of Fairy Tail."

The man shrugged and yanked his arm away from the Second's grasp. Walking away another member heard the man mutter, "Damn old people." Under his breath.

"Oi-" The person began but stopped when they made contact with the Second and saw him shake his head slowly.

Such occurrences continued, but the man was getting increasing out of control. His second day he saw one of the younger male members simply walk through the door unhindered._ 'The hell? Why is a brat 'initiated' when I'm not?'_ About an hour later the member came back out and headed for the exit of the guild but was stopped on his way by the man.

"Oi, brat, how can a shrimp like you be 'initated' and not me?"

The 'brat' backed away from him a bit. "I'm not supposed to tell you, man, you're supposed to figure it out on your own." He responding, hoping the guy would just leave it at that.

Of course he didn't.

"Oi oi oi…" He moved closer to the boy. "I don't like the way you said that." He cracked his knuckles. "How about I teach you to respect your betters?" He said walking towards the boy.

Oh boy.

The man was very brutally shown how well the wooden floor was made by a very pissed of Purehito. It was then that he announced to the arrogant man, "You are hereby excommunicated from Fairy Tail for intending to harm a fellow guild member simply because you couldn't handle not being trusted." His hand glowed purple as he used his magic to forcefully remove the guild's mark from the man's body. He was promptly removed from the premises and was forbidden from returning or risk getting the ever living hell beaten out of him once again. Needless to safe this caused a few precautions to be put into place, such as a magic lock with only 3 keys able to unlock it. While it meant that members could no longer visit Nine whenever they wanted, all had agreed after what had happened that it was necessary. So the Master would always carry one key while it was up to the Master to select two people that were more than willing to allow members in whenever they needed to. This usually meant the barmaids, but it wasn't limited to just them.

* * *

After the whole fiasco of Fairy Tail's first excommunication, the guild enjoyed a very long period of peace. The reputation of the guild continued to grow at a steady rate, it was considered to be a contender for the title of strongest guild. Not that it truly mattered to Fairy Tail, but if they were the top they would damn well be proud of it. The family continued to grow over the years of Purehito's tenure as Second Master. He was definitely a fine choice for the position; every member looked up to him as though he was their father or grandfather.

He wouldn't have had it any other way.

But as time went on he began growing restless. He had become quite powerful over the years and he was proud of his strength, there was no doubt about that. But he had a thirst for knowledge; he wished to know as much as he could about magic. This led him to his decision of embarking on a quest to discover the root of all magic. It was a difficult decision for him, one that had taken him many weeks to think over. But ultimately he decided that it was a quest that he simply must embark on. He had already decided on his successor, many years before in fact. The only question was: Would the bastard accept it quietly, or dispute it with all his might.

_'Please be the former.'_ Purehito pleaded to himself.

Of course his successor hadn't made it easy.

…Damn.

When Makarov was asked by the Second to walk with him, he had no clue the bomb that was about to be dropped on him. Purehito hadn't discussed his intentions to anyone, not even with Nine. So when Makarov was told that he was to be Fairy Tail's Third Master, and soon at that, he simply couldn't accept it. Purehito should still be the Master! He should be the last choice to succeed him, he didn't deserve it! Of course, he was just being modest. Not a single person in the guild would say that Makarov wasn't devoted entirely to his family. Makarov was a fierce friend and would always put them before himself.

…It also helped that he had mastered his **Titan Magic** years ago, making him incredibly strong, but that's not the point!

Eventually Makarov came to accept Purehito's decision to pass the title of Master onto him. There wasn't a single person in the guild that disputed the decision the day it was announced. In fact, there was a round of cheers.

"Called it!"

"Couldn't have found a better choice for it!"

"The shrimp finally grew up! I'm so proud!"

Were just a few of the things that were called out after it was announced.

But then came time for Purehito to announce what the guild would consider the bad news. He was going on a solo journey that would probably take the rest of his life to complete and he didn't want any of his family to follow him. This is met with some resistance, of course. No one wanted to lose the father or grandfather figure most, if not all, had grown up with. Eventually after he explained his decision and why he felt that he had to go on this journey his family couldn't bring themselves to argue further. They decided to take a page out of Nine's book and believe in Purehito, believe that he could do this and return safely some day.

Within a month's time, it was time to say good-bye to the beloved Second Master of Fairy Tail. He was well prepared for the journey and as tradition for members that decided to leave the guild he was given Fairy Tail's Farewell Ceremony. Magical fireworks exploded in the night sky as he made his way out of Magnolia. The members of guild looking towards their Second with tears in their eyes as they watched him go.

"WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU MASTER PUREHITO!" All of the members shouted into night sky.

* * *

The years flew by after Purehito had made his exit. Makarov had grown old and short, his balding head very easily showing off his age. Sometime during his tenure as the Third Master, he had been given the title of Wizard Saint. His family was so proud of him, thinking he was the first Fairy Tail member to do so. He knew otherwise, but he also knew it wasn't his story to tell. They would find out if the man decided to visit or his family somehow ran into them and he told them. He doubted that would happen anytime soon.

Speaking of family Makarov had started his own blood family. He had produced a son he had named Ivan. Ivan seemed to have not inherited his father's will and devotion to his family however. He always seemed to value power over the bonds with his family. But, that's not what the most troubling thing about Ivan was. The most troubling aspect of Ivan was his ability to hide his true emotions and desires. He had been shown Nine because of this, and was trusted with his secret.

Whether or not he would keep that secret… Well… Only time would tell.

* * *

The years went by and Ivan eventually had produced a son himself. Unlike his father, Laxus had taken more after his grandfather Makarov. In not only appearance but in his heart as well. Where Laxus had blonde hair and skin tone akin to Makarov, Ivan had black hair along with a darker skin tone. Laxus was a happy child and enjoyed spending time with his grandfather. The two would always be seen together during Laxus' childhood. Laxus looked up to Makarov, he wanted to be a strong mage like grandfather after all. One year Makarov decided to spend time with Laxus during a new Fairy Tail tradition: The Fantasia Parade.

"Gramps, aren't you participating this year?" A young Laxus asked.

"I'll be viewing from my seat."

"I wonder if I'll be able to find you."

"Don't worry about it." Makarov waved it off.

Laxus adopted a thinking pose and looked at the ground for a few moments. He then snapped his fingers.

"I got it! Ok then, during the parade I'll do this!" He shoved his right hand into the air giving Makarov a backwards L while he pumped his left hand.

Makarov just raised an eyebrow at his antics.

"The heck is that for?" Laxus smiled brightly.

"It's a message!" He began. "Even if I can't find you gramps, this is proof that I'll always be watching you!"

Makarov's eyes widened and he slowly adopted a smile.

"Laxus…"

Laxus closed his eyes and continued to smile at his grandfather.

"Watch, ok Gramps?"

Oh you cute little tyke, do you have any idea that you just started a new Fairy Tail tradition?

Nope.

* * *

In the months that followed, Ivan disappeared with Laxus for a full twenty four hours. Normally it would just be blown off as a father spending time with his son, but Makarov knew better. The last time he saw his son he had a look on his face that did not bode well at all. To find that the he had disappeared with his grandson only confirmed his suspicions. But he didn't want to believe that his son had ill intentions. He desperately wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he couldn't get rid of the knot in his stomach about the whole ordeal. When the two stepped through the guild doors the next day, they were instantly intercepted by Makarov.

"Ivan… Where were you?" He asked softly. He didn't want to startle Laxus after all.

"Oh, just making sure Laxus-chan grows up big and strong." Makarov did not like the sound of that. Not one bit.

Extending his senses Makarov gave a boy a thorough analysis. What he found did not please him at all. He had detected some sort of lacrima implanted into the boy. His clenched his jaw a bit harder than he should have.

In as soft a voice as he could muster at the moment he spoke to Laxus. "Laxus-kun, why don't you go play with the other children?"

Laxus eyes brightened as he looked to his grandfather. "Sure, Gramps!" He scampered off to go play with the other children, leaving the father and son to themselves. Makarov made sure no one was around to hear this conversation before glaring at his son.

"What. Did. You. Do. Ivan?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Ivan just smirked.

"Oh you know how weak the boy's body was, I merely just gave him a little boost."

"What kind of 'boost'?" Oh, he was this close.

The smirk turned into a grin.

"Of the Dragon-Slayer variety."

Oh.

"You know how dangerous that is to implant into a body, ESPECIALLY in one so young. How could you put him into that kind of situation Ivan?!" The father asked with a fierce glare.

Ivan just shrugged it off.

"He survived, didn't he?" He responded simply, as if that answered everything. He began walking out of guild, but not before he heard his father speak.

"You're walking a very thin wire, Ivan."

His son turned to look him. Was he really smirking once more?

"Oh, I know." With that he left the guild, leaving behind a father that was trembling with pure rage.

* * *

The year is now X772. During the last few years, much to no one's surprise, Ivan had been excommunicated. The details were never fully released as to why it had happened, but most had seen it coming. The Master and his son had been at each other's throats constantly leading up to the announcement. The only one that had spoken up was the Master's grandson, Laxus. The boy didn't want to believe his dad had deserved his punishment. Makarov had explained as best as he could why it had to happen, but Laxus wasn't having any of it. That had been a very hard day for Makarov, to have to banish his son and earn his grandson's ire because of it.

But the year X772 is special. It marks the start of the next generation that would change Fairy Tail forever. In the eyes of some, that wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

But those old coots could shove it.

With that, a little girl with short brown hair a cute dress found her way into the guild hall. She looked like she had done nothing but cry for the past few days. Poor thing. She'll just have to have a visit with a cute fuzzy animal, won't she?

Ok, maybe he's not cute.

He's badass.

* * *

Alright, chapter 2 completed! I hope you like the direction I went with for this chapter. I really wanted to highlight that Purehito was a fantastic Master before going on the journey that somehow corrupted him. Sad day. :(

Let me try to clear a few things up as well as very good points were brought up:

**Q:** How is Lumen Histoire going to be handled? Are you making that Naruto?

**A:** No. We don't know enough about that as of yet for me to really do something with it. It's obvious that Mavis had either found or created it since she calls it 'Fairy Tail's Light'. But it's also safe for you to assume that Naruto knows exactly what it is. I can't really go into more detail than that as I don't know enough about it. :S

**Q:** Can you clarify how Eternano works in this story?

**A:** Certainly! From what we've been told about Eternano, what with the mage taking in the power from the environment around them and storing that in their bodies, what does that sound like to you? To me it sounds almost exactly like how one absorbs Nature Chakra/Energy. The difference being that Naruto doesn't have the capability to store it for later use like a mage does with their magic container. I'm using this as the explanation why he can't produce spells like the mages can, but honestly he has learned every possible ninjutsu that he could. But I figure, using the knowledge from his ninjutsu, he could reliably help someone theory craft a new spell, which is why I had him help Mavis produce the 3 Great Fairy Magics. Speaking of which, it's not specified who made the spells but I'm sure it's safe to assume that Mavis did since she gives Cana Fairy Glitter. It should go without saying, but Naruto cannot use either of the 3 spells. He can help add his power Nature Chakra to it, but he's not going to be the one to invoke any of them any time during this story. He doesn't need more power, he's already god-like. Not to mention Kurama and the Juubi, which leads me to my next question.

**Q:** Can you explain what you've done with Kurama and the Juubi? Are they separate?

**A:** Yes the two are separate entities sealed within Naruto. I will be the first to admit that I took the easy way out with this decision. I wanted Naruto be immortal but, to me, it's not the important part of this story. So I went with the whole Juubi + Naruto = immortal explanation. As to why Kurama is separate is simple. I have a big 'ol soft spot for the bastard. I couldn't bring myself to assimilate him, to make him not exist anymore. In later chapters I plan to have him awake and commenting on what's happening around Naruto. That won't happen for a long while though, if the story goes how I planned it.

**Q:** Pairings.

**A:** ;-;

Honestly, I sincerely doubt my ability to write a decent romantic relationship for Naruto. However, that doesn't mean I won't try if I get enough demand for it. But the opposite is true, if I get enough demand for there to be no pairings I won't do one and I will breathe a sigh of relief! If you do want a pairing, all I ask is that you explain why you want it to happen and how you think it could work in this story.

Some other things I want to address:

The name Nine Tails.

I know I threw the name '9-tails-san' around in the AN of last chapter. But even though in hindsight how I wrote the whole Nine Tails naming scene looks extremely like a cop-out, I feel like it fits sooooo well now. He's got a first name and surname! I'm sure I'll think of nicknames for characters to give them once he's awake and they can interact with him better, but until then his name will be Nine Tails. Or just simply Nine-san.

My limited use of Japanese words.

Honestly I'm not sure how I feel about this. I really feel that my use of Aniki and Imouto fits much better than big brother and little sister. I feel like the Japanese versions have more feeling to them than their English counter parts. Let me know how you feel about this as well, I'll see what I can do about changing how I do it if it's bothering a bunch of people.

I reply!

I've replied to every review that's asked me a question or has given me a suggestion in some form. You don't know how much it means to me that you guys are willing to help me make this story do well! It's stupid how well a review like that motivated me to pump this chapter out today. :D

With that, I would like thank everyone that's given this story a chance and everyone that's given me a review! If you want me to continue this story, that's all you gotta do!

Also, real quick, there's a way to edit a chapter without taking it down right? Do I just edit it from the doc manager and it'll update the chapter that way?


	3. Chapter 3: Introductions part one

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.**

This chapter is a bit shorter than I wanted it to be because I had gotten stuck on a bit that I've decided to include in a later chapter that I'll describe at the bottom after you're done reading this one.**  
**

Enjoy!

* * *

Cana Alberona

* * *

Cana Alberona's day had not been going so well.

The poor girl's mother, Cornelia, had passed away a few days prior and she had just witnessed her burial. She didn't have any relatives there to comfort her afterwards. She had cried her little eyes out all by herself. Her one living relative didn't even know she existed, she knew his name, but was completely unaware of his status. Her father, Gildarts Clive, was well known across Fiore to be the Ace of Fairy Tail. The man was an absolute powerhouse. It makes you wonder how she hadn't heard stories about him. But for all his power, for all his success, the man was entirely unaware of his biggest failure.

His only daughter, age six, was crying alone.

The girl couldn't blame him though. The man never abandoned his child, and he never would have if he had known of her existence. She was sure of it. Her Papa would accept her no matter what, right?

Long after she had no more tears left to shed she was still standing in front of her mother's grave. She thought long and hard about what she was going to do next and she made her decision.

"I'm going to find Papa, Mama. I'll let him know I exist. I just know he'll accept me." She promised to her late mother.

* * *

With what little money she had inherited from her late mother, she made her way into town looking for anyone that might know her father. Her first choice was a local tavern of all places; she was drawn to it for some reason. Future alcohol addict, perhaps? …Nah not that little cutie, never. Upon entering she heard a couple of the louder patrons laughing about something.

"Did you hear what Fairy Tail's Ace did this time?" One asked his drinking buddy.

"Oh god, what did Clive do this time?" Cana's eyes widened at that name. Could it be? She hurried over to them.

The man laughs. "He apparently took out a forest, unintentionally, looking for some old lady's cat."

The other deadpanned. "Are you serious?" His buddy nodded and they both shared a good laugh. "That man does not know the meaning of restraint!" The man looked to his side as he felt a tug on his shirt. He was greeted with the sight of a cute little girl with short brown hair, large violet eyes, a red sleeveless shirt, a pink skirt and red slippers, with a small yellow pack tied diagonally across her chest. The hell was a little girl doing in a tavern alone?

"Excuse me mister, but are you talking about Gildarts Clive? Do you know where he is?" She asked politely.

"Ah…" The man scratched his head; he was not prepared to talk to a child at the moment. "No sweetie, I don't know where he is." His eyes widened as he saw her looks down sadly. _'Oh god, please don't cry!'_ "B-but I know where you might be able to find him." Her head shot up with a big smile plastered on her face. "He's in the guild Fairy Tail, it's in the town of Magnolia. It's only a few hours by train." Her smile brightened.

"Thanks Mister!" Before the man could ask if she had parents that could take her, she had rushed out of the building, his hand stretched out. "W-wait!" Too late. He shrugged; she'd be fine, right?

Cana knew the layout of her hometown well and was on a train to Magnolia within a few minutes. At first she was stopped by the Train Conductor, but he half lied and told him her Papa was waiting for her in Magnolia. Just in case, the Conductor had one of his newer employees watch over her during the duration of the trip.

Within a few hours the train arrived in Magnolia and she was quick to disembark. Before she left, she got instructions to Fairy Tail from the man that had watched over her. Fairy Tail was a popular destination for tourists so it was something he was required to know. With the way to her destination in mind, she hurried across the town. She was so close to finding her Papa!

_'There it is!'_ It was pretty hard to miss, what with the large banners hanging all over the building.

Before she got close, she spotted a large, massive to her, man exiting the building. He had bright orange semi-long hair that was slicked back and was sporting a ghost of a beard. He wore a ragged dark brown cloak with thin tan pauldrons. Under the cloak he wore a plain T-shirt, a large metal belt, dark blue pants and grey boots. Slung over his shoulder was a simple brown sack. This was Gildarts Clive, Cana's Papa, but she had no idea who this man was. She knew her father's name, but not his appearance.

And that was not a good thing. The big man in front of her was intimidating the hell out of the poor girl.

She began trembling slightly when the man took notice of her as she was on his path out of the town.

* * *

Gildarts Clive had just accepted another S-rank mission and had left the guild promptly after telling the Master so he could mark it down as taken. He had prepared all he would need before hand in the sack that he had slung over his shoulders. He would've taken this quest earlier, but the Master had requested him to hold off on it for a bit so the newer members would have a chance to meet their Ace. He hadn't been able to sit still for long so he took a D-rank mission to hold him over until he could take the S-rank.

…

He hated cats. Thinking they were so smart, climbing a tree to get away from him. He sure showed that little bastard what for. Too bad about the forest though. He shrugged.

On his way towards the entrance to Magnolia he spotted a chibi looking at him with big eyes. **(1)**

_'What's this little one doing all alone without her parents?'_ He looked around to see if anyone was there before his gaze fell back on her.

She flinched slightly. He didn't notice.

"Yo!" He said in a loud voice, waving his hand. She flinched again.

"You must be here to join Fairy Tail, right?" He paused to see what she would do, but she just continued to look at him. "Ah, well, if you go in there just look for tiny old guy, he'll let you join in a heartbeat!" He made his way past her, patting her head slightly as he did so, and left Magnolia.

Cana stood there for a few minutes, still trembling from just looking at the man and hearing his voice. _'…Scary.'_ She squeaked in her mind.

Once she had calmed down enough, she wiped away the wetness around her eyes that had formed. She was a big girl, big girls don't cry anymore! With that, she pushed her way past the door to the guild hall.

* * *

Makarov Dreyar was quite bored at the moment.

In another of his weird outfits, he was sitting in his usual spot on the bar downing the last of his beverage with gusto. It had been the rest of a drink he started with his favorite drinking buddy and Ace. They had shared one last drink before the man left for his quest that would more than likely take him a few years to finish this time. He had just left, but Makarov was already missing his Ace, but he knew he would be fine. That was when he noticed the door to his guild opening slightly and a young girl walk in. Upon just looking into her red eyes, he knew the child had had a rough time lately. He hopped off the bar and made his way over to the poor thing.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, little one, my name's Makarov Dreyar." He pointed a thumb to himself. " I'm the Third Master of Fairy Tail, what do you need?" He asked softly.

Little Cana didn't know what to make of the strange old man in front of her, but she found her courage and spoke.

"I'm looking for Gildarts Clive, Makarov-san, he's a member of this guild isn't he?"

"Ah, yes he is, but I'm afraid you just missed him." Her eyes widened. "He's accepted a 10-year S-rank quest. Knowing him, though, he'll be back in less than half that time."

She couldn't believe it; she wasn't going to be able to see her Papa for a long time. Tears were once again threatening to spill. Then it hit her. Was her Papa that big, scary man?

Meanwhile, Makarov could tell she wasn't taking the new well for some reason. Was he her idol, perhaps? Before he could try to comfort her she spoke again.

"W-was he that big man with orange hair and brown cape?" She asked through sniffles.

Makarov's eyes widened. She only knew the man by name? She didn't know his status in the guild?

"Yeah that was him, alright. I'm surprised you only know him by name." She gave him a curious look. "He's famous for being our strongest member, our Ace. His strength scares even me sometimes." He said with a small chuckle.

Oh, that did not help her opinion of her Papa at all.

To find out that her father was incredibly strong just made him all the more intimidating to her. How could she approach someone like that, let alone tell him who she was? Her earlier confidence of him accepting her was no longer as strong as it had once been. She wasn't sure at all anymore, and that finally caused the tears to flow once more. She lowered her head, her hair shadowing her eyes as she silently sobbed once more.

Makarov wasn't sure why she was crying, but he'd be damned if he didn't try his best to cheer her up. He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up and at a smiling Makarov.

"What's your name little one?" He asked softly.

"C-Cana, Makarov-san. C-Cana A-Alberona." She replied through her quiet sobs. His smile grew a bit bigger.

"What a pretty name." Her eyes brightened a bit at the praise. "Well, Cana-chan, how would you like to join Fairy Tail? That way you'll know the minute he returns." Cana looked at him for a moment and nodded her head slowly. Makarov grinned.

"Come with me over to bar and we'll get you set up with a guild mark, ok?" He held out his hand for her to take. She looked at it for a moment before wiping her eyes with one hand and taking his in the other.

"O-ok Makarov-san."

Makarov led Cana to the bar where he helped her to sit on top of it, next to his usual spot. Cana took this time to look around the guild. All of the guild members that were present had been watching their Master speak with a cute little girl and obviously succeed an adding another to their family. Not a single member wasn't smiling at her. She felt a little nervous from all the attention she was getting but she found the courage to offer a small smile back. Her attention was grabbed by the Master when he asked the barmaid on duty at the moment to fetch him the guild stamp real quick. She looked towards the barmaid and found that the woman was in the middle of preparing an extremely large bowl of food. It was… ramen? What the heck? The woman stopped to reach behind the bar and pull out the object she was requested to retrieve. With the guild stamp in his hand, Makarov turned to Cana.

"Alrighty, Cana-chan. What color would you like it to be and where do you want it placed?"

Cana adopted a cute thinking pose that caused a quiet round of 'D'awws' from the members. Having made her decision, she rasied her shirt half way and pointed to the lower left portion of her abdomen, right above the hip.

"There, in black please."

"Comin' right up! Hold still, ok this will only take a second." She nodded and saw the stamp glow slighty before the Master placed the stamp in the desired spot.

"All done! Do you like it, Cana-chan?"

Cana looked at her new mark and admired it for a second before looking back to the Master. "I do! Thank you, Makarov-san!" Makarov grinned once more.

"Welcome to the family, Cana-chan!" Makarov grabbed his mug and had the barmaid refill it for him while getting a mug of milk for Cana. Cana looked at the mug curiously before returning her gaze to Makarov. The old man liked to grin a lot didn't he?

"TO CANA ALBERONA, THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY!" He shouted before downing his mug.

"TO CANA!" Everyone else shouted before doing the same if they had a beverage at the time. A round of cheers erupted afterwards.

Cana seeing everyone else drinking, took that as her cue to also down her drink. Makarov hadn't expect her to be able to drink it all at once, it was a pretty big mug! But the girl chugged it down like a pro.

_'…I fear for the guilds future alcohol bills…'_

Oh, you have no idea Makarov.

* * *

After awhile the guild resumed its normally scheduled time of laughing and drinking the day away. With the attention off of her she was able to bring hers back to the massive bowl of ramen the barmaid had just finished preparing. This finally begged the question.

"Erm.. Master?" Cana asked. She had heard the other members address him as such so she thought that's what she was supposed to do.

Said Master had a knowing look of amusement in his eyes.

"Yeeeees?"

"Why did the lady make so much ramen? Is it for everyone?"

Makarov just smiled. "Usually I would ask a question before asking you this, but I already know you'd get it right." He got a curious look for his troubles. "How would you like to see something cool, Cana-chan?"

Not really knowing what else to do she nodded. "Ok Master."

Makarov hopped down off the bar and helped Cana do the same. Using his Titan Magic, he enlarged his hand to hold the bowl with ease. "Follow me Cana-chan." The duo made their way behind the staircase leading to the second floor where a door labeled 'Initiated members only' was located. She wasn't sure what that meant but she noticed the Master fiddling with an odd locking lock before opening the door and heading down a flight of stairs into a room too dark to see. It was kind of amusing seeing the Master fit the bowl through the door. The thing was so massive it barely fit through it. As she stepped through, the door closed shut on its own, startling her a bit but before she could ask what happened she heard it.

Something was breathing steadily down there and she wasn't so sure it was the Master.

"Cana-chan, before I light up the room I want you to know that you are completely safe alright?"

She didn't like the sound of that but nodded. "O-ok Master."

With that the Master channeled his magic into several light lacrima on the ceiling, lighting up the room instantly.

She was stunned to find a giant orange fox with nine tails to be revealed. "M-master?"

"It's ok Cana-chan. This is our guardian, he protects us from all the bad things." Makarov gave her a smile. "And today just happens to be that day of the month when he needs food." He walks over to the large fox and places the bowl in front of its snout, returning his hand to its normal size. He walks back over to Cana, whom was staying a healthy distance away from the fox. "His name is Nine Tails, but we just call him Nine-san." He gestures to Nine-san. "The younger members always love to watch him eat, it's quite amusing. Watch."

At first nothing happened. Cana was about to ask why the fox wasn't doing anything before she heard a loud sniff. She looked to the fox to see its nose twitch. It sniffed again.

Twitch. Twitch. Sniff. Twitch. SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFF.

Seemingly realizing the food in front of it, the fox's head lifted ever so slowly. Its eyes were still closed, but that didn't stop it at all. Its large mouth found its way over the bowl where it paused.

"Don't blink." The Master warned with amusement.

Faster than she thought possible, the fox dipped its mouth into the bowl.

SLUUUUUURRRRRP!

The bowl was now empty. The fox let out a small belch, it was loud but it was something that would sound normal for something of that size. It made a sound that sounded like a sigh of relief then its head found its place back on its weird hand-paws and its breathing became steady once again.

Cana was flabbergasted. Not only did the fox eat faster than anyone she'd ever seen, it also burped. BURPED! Quite loudly to! It was all just so… so…

Funny! Cana thought it was the most hilarious thing she'd ever seen!

Cana bursted into laughter that was pure music to Makarov's ears. Nine-san had done it again and the girl hadn't even seen him for more than five minutes.

So let's clarify something.

Cana Alberona's day had not been going so well… Until she met Nine-san.

* * *

Gray Fullbuster

* * *

It had been two years since Cana had joined the Fairy Tail family. Gildarts still hadn't finished his quest much to her disappointment. This disappointment caused her to take up fortune telling via tarot cards in an attempt to predict when he would return. During the time that had passed, Fairy Tail had more children join around the same time. Three in fact: Levy, Jet, and Droy. The three had actually formed their team 'Shadow Gear' with Levy as their team leader a few weeks back. Levy and Cana had become quick friends after they met; you had to actively choose not to make friends in Fairy Tail to do so.

Jet and Droy were watching Levy and Cana play an extremely weird game that involved blocks of varying shapes and sizes. They didn't know what was going on, but the girls did so it was entertaining to watch at least. All eyes were drawn to the guilds entrance as someone had just stepped through. It was a boy that looked no more than 8 with a rather odd appearance. He had short spiky black hair with dark blue eyes. That wasn't what was odd, though, it was his outfit. It was spring time in Magnolia, and while it wasn't too hot it wasn't too cold either. The boy was wearing a royal blue t-shirt, black jeans with a simple tan belt and brown shoes. Over the shirt he was wearing a very nice plain white jacket with brown fur lining the collar.

"I'm looking for the Guild Master." He said bluntly.

"Ah, that would be me." Hopping down from his usual spot on the bar and headed toward the boy. Seriously he was always there; it was a surprise that there wasn't an indentation of his back side in the wood. The craftsman that built it must've been a legend. Makarov was now standing in front of the boy.

"Master Makarov, at your service. What can I do for you Mister…?"

"Gray. Gray Fullbuster. I want to join the guild." He replied with a look of determination.

Makarov raised an eyebrow. There was a reason there that wasn't 'Because Fairy Tail is popular.'

"And why do you want to join?" He asked.

Gray lifted his right hand half-way and stared at it, remembering the reason he was here. Just two days ago, he had indirectly killed his **Ice Make** sensei, Ur, because he was weak and she had to protect him against a demon, Deliora. He cursed himself to hell and back for his weakness and he'd be damned if he let such a thing happen twice. His sensei had told him about Fairy Tail a few months back, so it was a no-brainer where he would seek help from. He clenched his fist and looked at Makarov once more, ready to answer.

"To get stronger." The determination was almost tangible.

"And what would you do with such strength?"

Without missing a beat. "Make sure I don't lose anymore comrades." The meaning was not missed on Makarov, whose eyes hardened in realization before quickly returning to their previous state.

"I think you'll fit in just fine Gray-kun, let's get you set up with your guild mark." Makarov said, waving his hand towards Gray to get him to follow. Since the barmaid wasn't preparing food this time she had already had the stamp held out for the Master to take. Nodding his thanks, he took the stamp and turned back to Gray only to raise an eyebrow at the scene he was now witnessing.

For some strange reason the boy's clothes, minus his boxers, had found homes on random chairs, tables, and spots on the floor. The boy didn't even look like he noticed.

"I wasn't aware you were so enthusiastic about getting the mark applied, Gray-kun." Cue eyes widening and frantic body searching.

"My clothes! Wha-?!" So it was a bad habit then. What a strange boy.

"Well may as well give you the mark before you put your clothes back on." He chuckled. "Where do you want it and what color?"

Gray had the decency to look embarrassed before pointing to his right pectoral. "Here, please, in blue."

A few seconds later and Gray was now the proud owner of a guild mark. He quickly got his clothes back on before he had made an even bigger fool of himself. He could still hear the older members snickering and the younger members giggling at his expense.

"Now that we've gotten that taken care of, I want to show you something." The Master turned to see the bright smiling faces of the four youngest members of his family.

"Oohh, Master, can we come to?" Cana asked excitedly. It had become something of a spectacle for the younger members to see the expressions of the newer members upon seeing Nine-san. They knew the rule regarding the knowledge of Nine-san's, but there weren't any non-members in the guild today and they knew what Makarov was going to show Gray. Though this time Makarov knew he had to take Gray alone for his first time. The boy's reason for wanting to join was still fresh in his mind.

"Not this time, sorry. I need to take Gray-kun alone, alright Cana-chan?" The four children slumped their shoulders and a chorus of 'Aww' came from them making the Third chuckle.

"Maybe next time children." The children went back to their seats, grumbling all the way back.

Gray just raised an eyebrow at their antics. Why would they want to come to? Didn't they already know what it was? …Or was it _because_ they already knew what it was? Hmm. He followed Makarov to the door and waited for him to unlock it. Once it was the Third gestured for him to enter first.

"After you." Gray shrugged and obeyed.

The basement was already lit up from what he could tell as he headed down the stairs. As soon as he got to the bottom he froze upon seeing the sight in front of him.

'What the…' This would be the point where the person would be afraid and look to the Master for help. But not Gray. Because of recent events he was quite familiar with what a demon felt like to be around. While the feeling he was getting from the giant fox in front of him was nowhere near the one he got from Deliora it was still enough to activate his self-preservation mode. Something Makarov wasn't entirely surprised by.

A fire lit in Gray's eyes as he slammed a fist into a palm and began channeling his magic, producing mist from his hands. "**ICE MAKE, LA-**" Before he could launch his attack, he was stopped by a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Whoa there, Gray-kun. He's not going to hurt you." Gray turned his head to look into the Master's stern gaze.

"But that's a de-"

"If we thought he was dangerous, do you really think we'd allow him to be in our basement?"

Gray's eyes widened as his mind was able to process more than just his fight or flight instinct. He looked at the fox once again. Sure enough the fox wasn't shackled or anything to indicate they were keeping it captive. It was just sleeping peacefully.

Makarov noticed Gray's body lose some tension but not all of it, so he decided to elaborate.

"Every time someone sees him for the first time, they become fearful whether they show it or not." He let go of the boys shoulder as he was sure he was calm now. "His presence seems to do that naturally, but when you take a moment and look passed that feeling you sense nothing but warmth." Sure enough, Gray could feel it. It was a soothing warmth, like it was subtly compelling him to feel calm.

"You're… right. I feel more comfortable than I think I should be."

"He's been here a long time, Gray-kun. The influence you're feeling has helped our guild members more times than we can count." Gray gave him the curious look that he was used to receiving upon explaining Nine-san to a new member. "His name is Nine Tails, but we just call him Nine-san. Whenever one of us is down we come down here to tell him our problems." He walked over to Nine-san and began petting one of the tails that had found its way in front of his large body. "It's a great form of stress relief, being able to tell someone what has us down." He looked to Gray. "Even if he can't respond to us, he's an extremely good listener." He stopped his petting session and put his hands behind his back. "He's also there for if or when we face something that we cannot defeat alone, I have the power to wake him up but for only when necessary."

Gray understood. He was grateful to the fox that he wouldn't baby him. If the fox never had to be woken up then that would mean that he was strong enough to protect his comrades. He nodded his head in understanding and walked towards the fox. Placing his hand on its snout just above its nose he made a bold declaration.

"I've decided, Nine-san." Makarov raised an eyebrow. "I've decided to add something to my goal." His eyes filled with determination. "To get stronger for my comrades so that you never have to worry about us!" Makarov had a massive grin plastered on his face.

"That is a fine goal Gray-kun. Welcome to the family."

Within the years to come if Gray were to ever face demons again, he would be ready. All he would have to do was remember the confidence that Nine-san's mere presence gave him and he would never have to fear a demon like Deliora ever again.

* * *

**(1)** I've posted a picture of this scene on my profile, go check it out! Before you ask, yes I see the dog. The thing is that dog is never seen again afterwards and you never hear about it ever so I decided to not include it in my story. I think it might even be an anime only thing, idk. The scene is both sad and cute as hell though. ;-;

I want to apologize for the mistakes in this chapter. I had begun my usual spell check before my pc crashed and I had forgotten that I was doing it after I reset it. My brain is stupid like that. I'm fixing errors as I see 'em. ;-;

And there's the beginning of the introductions! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! This is exactly what I had envisioned for this story to be its selling point. The interactions. Sure battles and adventure are all well and good and I will be getting to that shortly, but I feel not enough stories just focus on character interactions.

Anywho I have a few things I want to bring to the table this time.

First off let me elaborate on what I meant in that upper portion. Originally I had planned on including Levy's introduction into the chapter but I was stopped for one simple reason. I couldn't think of anything for two days. Hiroooooooooo~! Why didn't you make a back story for her? ;A; So yeah, because her past hasn't been detailed yet I have to come up with it entirely on my own. I'm confident I'll be able to do it but I wanted to get you guys another chapter as quickly as I could. I'll be doing her introduction at a later point via flashback, this'll be after Naruto is up and about. However, while I plan on doing one for Levy, I do not plan on doing one for Jet and Droy. I really dislike those two as characters, they're kinda just there. :/

Moving I'd like to announce: **I'VE DECIDED ON A PAIRING**

...

Say what? Didn't you say you don't trust your ability to write one?

...

I did, yes. But after some encouraging me to do one to test the waters a bit I decided I want to give it a shot.

**HOWEVER**

**While I'm not going to tell you what the pairing is I will say that I am 95% certain that this pairing has NOT been done before. I am also 100% certain no one will see it coming. ;D**

I'll let you try to guess the pairing, if someone gets it write I WILL reply and confirm it. ;)

**UPDATE: Someone brought up a good question that I should've specified when I wrote this bit. The pairing will be a straight pairing! Sorry if I scared you a bit by not specifying! :S**

Next on the list: I've had an absolute awesome brainstorm of ideas for this story. I'm suuuuuuuper excited to get to those parts as well and I'm sure you guys and gals will enjoy it! Next on the list for introductions is Erza followed by Natsu and the Strauss siblings and then Lucy. These will be the last of the introduction arc and afterwards I will begin the Phantom Lord arc. Lucy's intro will more than likely be at the beginning of the Phantom Lord arc.

Also I want to give a shout out to **SnowTime**, the author of **Fairy Tail's Lazy Fox**. Her story was my inspiration for this one and she was ok with me using her idea as a base for mine! :)

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review with any suggestions you have for this story! All your suggestions mean a lot and I'm not just saying that! Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4: Introductions part two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Naruto in any way.**

**HOLY LONG TIME WITHOUT AN UPDATE BATMAN!**

Sorry about that! I went out of state to visit family for Thanksgiving. I was fully intent on getting the chapter out the day before I left on my trip, but I kept coming up with stuff I wasn't satisfied with. ;-; I want to have a posting schedule of weekly. That's my ideal goal for my updates.

Also, HOT DAMN! I've pass 500 favorites/follows! This was my second milestone I set for myself, with the new one being 1k/1k. It probably won't happen, but I can dream! ;A;

One thing before I turn ya loose on this chapter: **Please read the AN at the bottom! I wish to discuss all the things. That is all.**

Enjoy!

* * *

Erza Scarlet

* * *

The year is now X776. Two years had passed since Gray had joined the family. Gray had only really needed to visit Nine-san once during his time in the guild, unlike Cana who had needed the visits for the better part of her first year. However, like Cana, his visits now were infrequent and they were to tell Nine-san their progress in their respective magic styles. While Gray had entered as an Ice Make mage, Cana had only recently started learning her magic: **Card Magic**. Her fortune telling skills had been the deciding factor on what magic she wanted to learn.

Unfortunately, while Gray and Cana had been having a wonderful time these past few years, there was a soon-to-be member that had gone through hell during that time.

It was near midnight. An eleven year old Erza Scarlet had just washed up onto a shore she could not identify. It would be more accurate to say that it was impossible for her to do so at the moment. Her suffering mind was hardly holding together as it was. She was wearing rags that had been slashed up due to the early events of today. Behind the rags were terrible cuts and bruises that no eleven year old child should ever have to bear. She also had an eye patch over her right eye while her left was revealed to be brown, the tell-tale sign of her worst injury. She had semi-long hair that was a beautiful shade of scarlet. As she shakily pushed herself into a sitting position, she paid no heed to the waves softly pushing against her back every so often. She went through the events of the past day, trying to desperately make sense of it all.

She had been a slave when she woke up that morning. She had been one for so very long in that hell called the Tower of Heaven. She shared a cell with the only family she knew, even if they weren't related by blood. Simon, A tall boy with short ebony hair and dark eyes. Sho, a small boy with a skin tone slighty darker than the rest, with short bright blond hair with an ahoge sticking straight up and dark eyes. Millianna, a small girl with short brown hair, brown eyes and a small cat-like nose. Wally, an average boy with short spiky ebony hair, dark eyes and a pointy nose. And finally, the one Erza respected the most out of her group a friends: Jellal, a short boy with short spiky sky blue hair, brown eyes and a strange red tattoo above and under his right eye. The group had a grand father figure to help them through the bad times in the form of Rob. He was very old, with long gray hair with the top pointed straight up with a few strands poking out. He had ridiculously long eyebrows that went a past his chin and a pretty sweet grey beard that went to his chest. His most distinguishing feature was the large black Fairy Tail symbol on his bare back.

Earlier that day the children had orchestrated an escape attempt that had failed miserably. Erza was used as the scapegoat by the guards, them having believed that she came up with the plan. She was brutally tortured by the guards and had lost her right eye in the process. Jellal had somehow managed to fight his way past several guards in an attempt to save Erza, only to be caught and taken to be tortured him Erza's place. Erza wasn't having any of that, overpowering the guards with surprising strength she rallied the slaves into an open revolt. She lead the prisoners valiantly against the weak guards until they had finally decided to call in the reinforcements in the form of wizards. The wizards began making short work of the slaves and almost taken Erza out completely. Almost. Rob had intercepted the spell that would end Erza's short existence, sacrificing himself so that she may live. In a rage-induced frenzy she called upon her dormant magic power and decimated the force of mages that had come to put an end to the revolt.

Sending the others ahead to get the ships that were docked to the island the Tower was located ready, she went deeper into the Tower to rescue Jellal. She found him in another torture chamber, only to see a horrible sight. Her friend brutally murdered his captors while they begged for their lives. This wasn't the Jellal that she had come to rescue. She desperately tried to reach the Jellal she knew, but it was all for naught. With a sick grin on his face he told Erza he was going to keep building the Tower with the slaves that were trying to escape. She was to be the only one to get away, with the knowledge that if she told anyone or came near the tower herself, Jellal would kill everyone. "This is your 'freedom'" He told her with the sick grin still present as he cast her out of the Tower and into the sea.

A few hours later and Erza found herself in her current situation: On a beach at night with no friends or purpose. She could only look at the bright moon and cry out into the night, tears freely falling from her only eye.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

* * *

The next day Erza could think of only one thing she could do. Pursue the dream Rob had given her: Join Fairy Tail. It hadn't been too difficult to find a map and locate which town fairy Tail resided from the first town she happened upon. It had taken her the better part of a day, since she couldn't pay for transportation, but she had made it to Magnolia without trouble. What luck she had. Where was it when she was in the tower? She felt sick just thinking about it, so she decided to force her thoughts on where she was going. She found her destination soon enough and pushed her way past the large orange doors and into the guild. Before she entered she heard the guild bustling with laughter and conversation, after she entered the guild went silent. She heard some members gasp, most likely due to her state of wear, but her eye locked onto a strange old man that was quickly making his way towards her.

"Oh you poor child, what happened to you?" He asked when he got near her.

Finally, what was left of the girl's strength left her as she started to sway.

"I… Made it…" She whispered weakly, just loud enough for the Master to hear her before she collapsed into the old man's arms.

Before she lost consciousness she heard the old man trying to tell her something

"-ld on… -na be –k… -re saf-" She couldn't make it out, but she smiled weakly before she went into a blissful sleep.

* * *

Makarov didn't know what to make of the situation that had just presented itself. A young girl with bright red hair had just walked into the guild looking like she'd gone through hell. He was very inclined to believe that that was a dangerously true statement. He quickly got her onto his back and had the barmaid help him get her into the small infirmary that Fairy Tail had in case of emergencies. After setting her on one of the few beds in the room, he quickly got out the infirmary's first aid kit. While he was nowhere near Porlyusica's skill in healing, he was still able to at least apply first aid and perform a simple diagnosis. He cleaned the wounds that he could and bandaged them while checking for any injuries that might indicate broken bones. Finding none, he checked for any sign of a fever before heaving a sigh of relief. The girl was stable as far as he could tell; she was just extremely exhausted from whatever hell she had endured. Still, to be on the safe side he would bring her to the house in the forest Porlyusica had moved into many years ago.

"Is she gonna be okay Master?" Two voices asked. Makarov had been so focused on making sure the girl was ok he hadn't noticed Cana and Gray had followed him in.

Turning to the two, he sighed before speaking. "She's fine, at least for now. I need to bring her Porlyusica's home to get a real check up." He noticed the two shudder slightly. Ah, so they still hadn't gotten over the first time they visited the woman. Good times. "Anyway, it's good you're here Cana." She looked at him curiously. "Do you think you could lend our guest some clothes? It doesn't look like she has any of her own."

Cana nodded. "I do, I can go get them right now if you want."

"If you would be so kind." He looked over to Gray. "Why don't you go help her Gray?" The boy shrugged, before nodding. "Alright, when you both get back just leave the clothes on the table next to her bed. I'll take her to Porlyusica's in the morning when she wakes up." The two nodded again and left the infirmary towards the apartment Cana was provided at Fairy Hills until she could pay for it herself.

Makarov glanced at the scarlet haired girl once more, paying attention to the eye patch this time. "…We'll take care of you, child, I'm certain Porlyusica can do something about that injury. Stay strong." With that, he left the infirmary to drown himself in booze to get his mind of this depressing situation.

* * *

Her eyes slowly fluttered open. She suddenly wished she hadn't as she was now blinded by the light coming from the window next to her bed. With a small groan and some effort she lifted herself into a sitting position on the unfamiliar bed she found herself in. This was when she realized she was covered in bandages. 'Someone must've helped me…' She then remembered the small old man she had seen before she blacked out. 'Maybe it was him?' She wondered. She took a look around the room she found herself in. There were a couple more unoccupied beds in the small room and no one else was present. Her eyes landed on a folded stack of clothing at the foot of her bed which raised an eye brow. She figured that the old man had provided them for her so she reached to grab the top article.

"Ah, so you're awake." She was startled by the voice that came from the door. The old man had entered and had now approached her bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm ok." She rubbed her shoulder. "A little sore though."

The old man gave her a serious look. "I'd imagine. You look like you've gone through a tough time." He sat down in a chair next to the bed; his expression lightening up a bit. "Ah, where are my manners? My name is Makarov Dreyar, I'm the Third Master of Fairy Tail." He held out his hand. "And who might you be?"

She took his and gave it a shake. "Erza Scarlet." She let go. "May I join the guild?" She asked bluntly, staring at him intently.

That got a chuckle. "Straight to the point I see, of course you may Erza-chan." He gave her a serious look once more. "But before that, I need to take you to see a friend of mine. She's an expert in healing and I want to be sure you aren't suffering from anything that isn't apparent." She nodded, though she felt fine it would make sense to rather be safe than sorry. "And we'll see about fixing that eye of yours." Her one eye widened considerably, causing Makarov to grin. The feeling of helping a child find their path was one Makarov would not give up for the world.

* * *

It had taken the rest of the day to take the trip to Porlyusica's home and back. True to Makarov's words, Porlyusica was indeed able to fix Erza's eye in the form of an artificial one. The two elders had also found out the fate of their old friend Rob from the girl. She had left out some information like the Tower of Heaven and the fact that it was still being built. That was something she would not tell anyone for as long as she lived. How could she? If she did all the slaves, including her friends, would be killed at the hands of a former comrade. No, she would need to get stronger and deal with this herself, she decided.

Soon the Master-child duo made their way back to the guild. Erza was in much higher spirits than when she left; she had two eyes again! To go with her new eye she got a blue guild mark just below her left shoulder. Then came the Initiation; Makarov felt she was more than ready to be truly welcomed into the Fairy Tail family. He wondered how she would react, ever since Gray had attempted an attack he had to be a bit more wary when showing a new member Nine. Wouldn't want the fox to missing a large amount of fur, a tail, an ear, or any other limb because of a misunderstanding. He wondered idly if such a thing was possible to begin with, no one had actually struck the fox before. He came to a stop next to Nine and turned to gauge Erza's reaction. Unsurprisingly, wide eyes were present but he couldn't know what she was thinking.

_'This… Fox feels similar to how Jellal felt when he…'_ She didn't really want to continue that line of thought. _'But… it feels different… It feels a lot like how I felt around Rob after a hard day. I feel… safe…'_

"Master?" She asked in a surprisingly unwavering tone.

"Go ahead Erza-chan."

"Why does this fox make me feel safe?" Makarov grinned. Very astute, this one.

"This fox, or Nine Tails, protects us." Cue raised eyebrow, you could set your watch to the reactions everyone has. …Whatever a watch was anyway. "He's been here since Fairy Tail had been founded just over ninety years ago." The Third placed a hand on his chin and looked up towards the ceiling. "Though, I must admit, you're the first to look past the fearful feeling you get at first and see the warmth that seems to just flow out of him." He looked back down to see Erza with a rather odd expression he hadn't seen on the girl yet. Her eyes were wide, staring at her hands as see was poking her index fingers together. The position of her lips was rather strange too, an upside down V. …And is that blush? Was she embarrassed about something?

"C-…Can I pet him, Master?" Oh you are just a treat, Erza. The Third laughed loudly at that, causing the girl to become even more embarrassed.

"Of course you can! You are allowed to come down here any time you wish to visit Nine-san." Her eyes light up like a Fantasia fireworks show as she dashed over the fox and began stroking the side of his face. The fox was massive to her, so she really couldn't pet him anywhere else other than a tail, paw-hands, legs, or the side of the fox's abdomen.

"S-soft." She uttered as she continued her impromptu petting session.

The Master chuckled to himself. "One thing I want to mention is that we have sorta an unspoken rule regarding Nine-san." Erza inclined her head but continued petting. "Should a member wish to visit Nine-san alone, we let them have all the time they need uninterrupted. Keep that in mind should you ever have someone you want to talk to or just have someone to be there for you. He's a very good listener after all." Erza nodded furiously, but otherwise continued what she thought was a sweet spot for the fox. She suddenly stopped though and turned her head to look at the Master.

"I want to stay here for awhile, Master, is that ok?"

Makarov nodded. "Of course it is, take all the time you need." With that, he turned and walked back up the stairs and out into the guild hall.

Now that she was alone, she walked into the little alcove that was created from the way the fox was curled up in his sleep. She sat down and leaned her back into his abdomen, listening to the calming sound of the fox's methodical breathing. She really did feel safe with Nine-san. That safety would eventually break down the walls around Erza's heart and would begin today. She told him her story, but it was the same one she gave the Master and Porlyusica-san. She didn't leave the room until the following day.

In a few years though, Nine would be the only one she trusted with her full story.

* * *

Natsu Dragneel

* * *

"IGNEEEEEEEEEEEL!"

A boy shouted as he ran through a forest with a panic in his eyes. The date was July 7th X777; today was the day Natsu Dragneel had been abandoned by his foster father Igneel, The Fire Dragon. Natsu was wearing a red long sleeved button-up shirt with tan and brown shorts with a pale sash tied around his waist and simple red shoes. His most prized possession was the white scaly scarf Igneel had given him a few days before. He had awoken this morning to find that his father had disappeared. While it had happened before, Igneel would usually be back within an hour of the time he usually woke up to start his training for the day.

It had been 5 hours since he woke up.

Natsu didn't know what to do; he couldn't remember if Igneel had told him he was going somewhere. So he did the only thing he thought would help: Running through the forest shouting his head off. Did it work? Nope. Did that stop him from continuing? Nope.

"IGNEEEEEL" He shouted to the heavens once more. He was exhausted by now, he rested his hands on his knees panting heavily. "Igneel…" Tears threatened to form. _'Was I not strong enough? Did he leave me because I was too weak?'_ He thought.

"So you're the one that's been causing such a ruckus." Natsu's head snapped to the direction the voice came from. To his surprise, a small old man wearing the strangest looking clothes had just walked passed a tree into view. The old man opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the boy.

"Gramps! Have you seen Igneel?" He asked quickly.

Well that's a strange name. "Er… I can't say I've heard of a person with that name before."

"That's because he's not a person, he's a dragon!" He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. That raised an eye brow.

_'A dragon? Either he's got a big imagination or he's been trained in the Lost Magic of the Dragons.'_ He decided to take a shot in the dark.

"Are you, perhaps, a Dragon Slayer?" He questioned.

That got the boy grinning like a loon, forgetting about his current predicament for the moment to boast. "You bet Gramps! I can use the **Fire Dragon Slayer Magic**!" To prove this he ignited his hand with his magic.

The old man nodded. "I thought as much. Anyway, is that why you were on the outskirts of Magnolia? You were searching for Igneel?"

The boys grin was replaced by one of confusion, the fire surrounding his hand extinguished. "Magnolia? I haven't heard of that before, Gramps. Is that a food? Igneel never taught me about that kind of food." He sure knew how to run his mouth.

"It's a town and you must be pretty far away from home if you don't recognize the name. Do you have any parents I could help you return to, Child?"

Natsu looked offended. "I'm not a child!" The old man sweat dropped. Natsu's expression saddened. "Igneel is my only parent, Gramps." This earned a frown from the old man. Well that won't do.

"How about you come with me back to my guild? You could wait for Igneel there, I'm sure he'll be able to find you easily enough if you're in an official mage guild." Natsu brightened up at that.

"You mean it Gramps?!"

"Of course, you can stay as long as you want." He grinned and held his hand out. "The name's Makarov Dreyar, Third Master of the mage guild Fairy Tail."

"Natsu Dragneel! Nice ta meetcha, Gramps!" He gave the now named Makarov a firm handshake.

"Well Natsu-kun, follow me to the guild. You'll fit in just fine."

The trek to the guild hall was quick even though the Third had named some landmarks that Natsu gaped at, the cathedral was one such mark. Fairy Tail members looked towards the entrance of the guild as it opened to reveal the Master and a newbie. They figured it was a new member so they would wait until after the kid was Initiated to get to know him better. Sure enough the Master applied the guild mark on the boys right shoulder in red before leading him to the door to the basement. All of the younger members were allowed to see new member's reaction to Nine this time. It had been awhile since the Master had let them so they were understandably excited. Even the ever stoic Erza seemed to show more interest in this than she had before for other events. Speaking of whom, Erza had taken a liking to wearing armor. No one was really sure why, but they figured it had something to do with her learning Requip Magic. She hadn't found a specific style to master yet, but she was close.

As the rather large group followed the Master down the steps looking excitedly at boy, Natsu the Master had called him. He was just confused. Why was everyone looking at him? Was there something on his face? Then he noticed the rather large beast sleeping in front of him. Of all the reactions everyone had expected, none had expected his. He looked like a child who had just received a present with stars in eyes.

"Cool!" He turned to the third. "Gramps! What is that? I haven't seen an animal like that before! Is it like a dragon?" …What?

Gray recovered from his stupor first. "What are you, an idiot? He's a fox!"

Natsu sent him a glare. "What'd you say Droopy Eyes?!"

Gray acquired a tick mark. "You heard me Slanted Eyes!"

"That's enough you two." The Master said with amusement. "Natsu, this is Nine Tails. He's Fairy Tail's Guardian, though he-" Natsu interrupted him, the stars once again in his eyes.

"Master is he strong?"

"Er… Yes. From what the Second Master told me, he's incredibly strong." He went to continue his original thought. " Even though he's our-"

There was quite literally a fire in Natsu's eyes. How in the hell does that not hurt? He struck a pose, pointing directly and Nine's nose.

"NINE! FIGHT ME!" He clenched his hands into fists, ignited them and lunged at the fox.

Everyone was stunned beyond words and could only gape at the boy. Who the hell picks a fight with something they were just told was incredibly strong? Apparently this boy did. Before the Master could intervene, however, someone else beat him to the punch. Literally. Erza was now standing over a beaten Natsu with her fist steaming and a rather large bump on Natsu's head.

"WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO FIGHT OUR GUARDIAN?!" She shouted at him.

Natsu shook his head to get rid of the webs. "Because I wanted to see who was stronger!" He retorted with equal volume.

…

Everyone fell to the ground.

Natsu rubbed his achin' head. "Why did you get me with that cheap shot anyways, ya hag?" Everyone froze. The temperature felt like it had dropped and for some reason it was now quite difficult to breathe.

Erza wore a glare that could make grown men wet themselves. Yup, she was quite livid. "Oh." She turned to the Master. "Our newest member needs to learn some manners." Without waiting for Makarovs approval she latched onto one of Natsu's legs and began dragging him back up the stairs with him kicking and screaming the whole way up.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The door slammed shut.

…

Levy uttered what everyone, including the Master, had been thinking. "S-s-scary!" Causing everyone to nod and gulp.

Hell hath no fury like an Erza scorned.

* * *

The Strauss Siblings

* * *

Two tragedies had struck the Strauss Siblings during the short amount of time they had been on the world. Two events they would never truly forget, they would never allow themselves to. To forget would be an insult to their bonds.

The first was when their parents had passed away in the year X778 leaving them with only each other to rely on. Their home had been repossessed as they had no way of paying for it. The people that had done the repossession didn't even seem to care that they were kids and would have nowhere to go. They were just men in suits only caring for their next paycheck. When it was finally time to leave their childhood home, the three siblings stood outside the house one final time. With nothing but the clothes on their back, they gazed upon the house with tear-filled eyes.

The youngest of the three was a little girl by the name of Lisanna. She wore a bright pink dress with a red trim, red slippers, and has short, straight hair. Holding her hand was her older brother and second eldest of the three, Elfman. He was wearing a royal blue suit with a red bowtie, a white long sleeved dress shirt, black dress shoes and has short spiky hair. On the other side of him was their older sister, Mirajane, the eldest Strauss sibling. She was a bit more revealing with her outfit which consisted of a dark purple, skimpy sleeveless shirt, a pair of black leather shorts held up by a studded belt with a demonic-looking buckle and black thigh-high high-heeled boots. Her hair was quite long, help up in a pony tail by a large purple bow with long bangs framing the sides of her face. The distinguishing feature of the siblings is their hair and eyes which shared the same colors. Their hair was of the snow-white variety while their eyes were blue; Elfman had the darkest shade while Lisanna had the lightest.

Another thing the siblings shared was their magic. Their parents had once been a part of a guild but had left to start a family beginning with Mirajane. Before they had left they had been well known masters of the **Take Over Magic** and had handed down their trade to their children. The three had grown up listening to tales of their parent's adventures in their guild and had decided early on that they would join when they got the chance. So, with one final goodbye, the siblings left their former home to find a new one. The former home of their parents: Fairy Tail.

* * *

Mira's eye twitched at the scene before her.

Her younger brother and sister were currently having the time of their lives. That's not what irked her about the situation. No. The thing that did the job was the giant orange fox her siblings were playing with. Five minutes ago they had all received their guild marks; hers was white on the outer portion of her left thigh. Lisanna wanted to be like her sister and had gotten her's in the same spot and color while Elfman had opted for black above his left collar bone. The master of the guild had led them to the basement to 'show them something cool.' as he had put it. She immediately knew the creature to be some sort of demon; her magic took advantage of their power after all. But, she knew better than to try to take it over at this time. She couldn't tell how strong it was nor would she be able to fight it in the space of a basement. So she opted to deadpan at the scene instead.

Lisanna had immediately accepted that the fox would not harm her. Some would say that she was incredibly naïve, they would be telling truth, however the girl didn't know the meaning of the word hate. She wasn't afraid either, she had felt the warmth right away and it reminded her of the time she had with her parents. Elfman had been a bit more hesitant, but after seeing his younger sister petting the fox his walls broke down and he joined her. Mira still kept her walls firm though, the Master's explanation still hadn't gotten her to trust the fox like her siblings had. She looked away from the scene with a slight 'hmph'.

"What's wrong, Mira-chan?" She turned to see the Master staring at her curiously.

She gave another huff. "I don't need some stupid fox to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." she replied haughtily. The Third saw through her guise though.

"I know you're just trying to be strong for your siblings, Mira-chan." Cue huff. Damn, quite the little hot-heat, isn't she? "That's not a bad thing, though it's also not bad to admit one's faults." He spotted an eye twitch. "Look, it doesn't have to be now, but promise me that you'll come down here to let off some steam every once in awhile."

Mira gave him a look, but eventually broke down and sighed. "Alright, fine. I understand."

"Good!"

"Mira-nee~! Come pet Nine-san with us" Lisanna called out to her sister.

"Yeah, come on nee-san! His fur is so soft." Elfman added.

Mira sighed before joining her younger siblings in their petting session of the giant fox. The Third spied that small smile she tried to hide. Thought you could hide that from him, didya girlie? Think again!

* * *

The second tragedy the siblings endured had not only impacted them, but the entirety of Fairy Tail as well. On the year X782, Lisanna Strauss had been killed on an S-class mission with her older brother and sister. She had been killed at the hand of an out-of-control Elfman after he had attempted to **Take Over** and S-Class beast. The guild had been devastated to learn of what had happened. The one most affected, second only to the Strauss' themselves, was Natsu. He had grown quite fond of Lisanna over the years and had lost a piece of himself that day. He had thought it to be just as bad as when Igneel had left. No, at least he still had a chance to see his foster father again. He would never be able to see Lisanna's smile ever again.

* * *

Play this song on youtube: /watch?v=RT_q0zQsCrE

* * *

Upon learning of the events, Makarov had immediately led them to Nine. The fox wouldn't be able to take the pain away completely, but he damn well could dull it. With a nod to the still crying siblings he left them alone. Elfman collapsed to his knees in the alcove created by Nine's limbs. He began sobbing uncontrollably slamming his fists on the ground every so often. Mira hadn't followed her brother yet; she was hugging herself with her hair shadowing her eyes, sobbing quietly.

"WHY?!"

Mira looked up with wide eyes at her despairing brother. Elfman looked up to the one closed eye he could see.

"WHY COULDN'T I HAVE BEEN STRONGER?! IF I HAD BEEN, LISANNA WOULD STILL BE HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT HER ADVENTURES!" He cried. Mira clenched her teeth and hugged herself tighter; tears falling ever so faster.

"UWAAAAAHHHH!" Elfman grabbed his head with both hands and cried out at the ceiling.

Mira couldn't take it anymore. She lunged at him and embraced him into a tight hug. "STOP IT, ELFMAN! BLAMING YOURSELF ISN'T GOING TO BRING LISANNA BACK!" She cried, shoving her face into his back.

Elfman turned himself around to embrace his sister. "MIRA-NEE! I'M SO SORRY!" He tightened his embrace, fully intent on never letting go.

"UWAAAHHH!" Both cried out to the heavens.

Neither of them saw it coming. In their state of despair it was impossible for them to anticipate it. Both widened their eyes as they felt something envelope them. They slowly turned to see two of Nine's tails slowly wrapping around them. Ever so slightly they were pushed into a comfortable position between the tails and the fox's abdomen. They turned their heads to look at the fox's eye. It was still closed. Both clenched their teeth as the tears began flowing faster than ever before. Even though he wasn't conscious, he was still there for them; urging them to let it all out.

And they did.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" The remaining Strauss siblings cried to heavens once more.

* * *

Whew! Chapter 4 = complete!

I really hope you all have enjoyed this chapter. This last scene was the scene that had spurred me into writing this story to begin with. I feel like I did a good job with it, but you're the ones that will decide that.

**Also, please consider making an account on this site before posting a review! I can't reply to you if you're a guest! There have been so many awesome guest reviews that I want to reply to as soon as I get them, but can't because of this! Thank you! :)**

So, some things I wish to discuss:

**The Pairing *DUN DUN DUUUUUN***

No one has guess it yet. No one's even gotten close! I've acquired a psuedo-beta that I've begun discussing my plans for this story with. From what I can tell, he's very interested in the pairing I've come up with and the story behind it and has confirmed that it is something that has **NOT **been done before! Exciting, isn't it? Will I tell you? NAWP! You'll have to wait for the arc I plan to reveal it in! MWUAHAHAH! I'm evil.

**Next chapter begins the canon part of the story**

Yup! Next chapter we move right onto Lucy's initiation into the guild! I'm definitely going to have Mira do this, instead of Makarov. Honestly, I couldn't think of anyone but him to do it properly during the pre-canon. If we had a prominent barmaid, I would've used her once or twice! ;-;

**Random things**

So just kinda something I wanted to share: I recently got into Attack on Titan. HOOOO, did I get into. But that's not all, I got a bunch of people into as well. One of which happens to be my 50 year old father that hasn't any interest in anime, but does have a great interest in movies, both domestic and foreign. He absolutely loves it! Another one was actually my best friend from high school that can't stand anime because he's got the misconception that all anime is cutesy or over-the-top super heroes and whatnot. So I forced him to watched the first episode and he was hooked. We watched 9 episodes straight, all with him saying we're not stopping. The moral of the story is: AoT is **GOOD. **It's more than likely the only anime I would suggest to people that don't watch anime. If you haven't watched/read it, what are you waiting for? Go watch the first episode! DOOOEEET NAO! :D

See you next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5: The Awakening

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.**

Sweet baby Jesus another long time since the last update. ;-; I'm sorry! I don't really have a good excuse for it this time I'm afraid. I simply was having trouble coming up with what to write for a while. This was when I came to the realization that this stuff is quite difficult to do regularly on a schedule. :( I'm going to be trying to find different times and ways to help with this, but until then I hope I can at least be a bit more frequent than I currently am.

As always please read the AN at the bottom so I can discuss all the things.

And now without further adieu, here's chapter 5!

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia – Year X784 July 4

* * *

'I'm finally going to join Fairy Tail!'

These were the thoughts of one Lucy Heartfilia as she made her way through Magnolia with her two companions Natsu and Happy. Lucy had long blonde hair with a portion of it tied up on the right side of her head with a small blue bow, with light brown eyes. Lucy's outfit consists of a white sleeveless shirt with a blue trim along with a blue cross pattern in the center that wrapped around to the back. She also wears a short blue skirt, black knee-high boots and a black wrist band on her right wrist. To complete her outfit, she has a brown belt that held her Celestial Key Ring on her left hip and a black whip coiled up on her left hip. She's also quite well endowed for a 17 year old.

As they made their way to the destination she was given the grand (very linear) tour of Magnolia. Happy, she still was getting over the fact that the cat could speak, and Natsu were pointing out seemingly at random.

"And this is _thaaat_ tree!" Happy covered his mouth with his paws to cover his snickering.

"Oh yeah, _thaaat_ tree!" Natsu exclaimed. The duo started snickering amongst themselves leaving Lucy with no small amount of confusion.

_'How old are they again…?' _She thought with a deadpan.

"And this is the guild hall!" The Cat and Dragonslayer duo posed on opposite sides of the door with their hands in a 'tada!' gesture. "Welcome to Fairy Tail Luigi!"

Lucy was too indulged in her excitement to realize that her name had just been horribly butchered. The doors were opened and the trio entered the building full of people drinking and having an overall great time.

_'I'm finally here… Fairy Tail!' _Her amazement wasn't about to last very long however.

…At least not in the form she would figure.

"WE'RE HOME!" Natsu suddenly shouted as he began stomping his way towards a table of guild members.

"Ah, Natsu, Happy, welcome back!" Answered an ivory haired girl that Lucy thought she recognized.

Suddenly Natsu jumped at one of the people sitting at the table with a flying kick to the face.

"Bastard! That info you gave me was fake!"

Of course this started one of the infamous Fairy Tail brawls. The bench and table casualties were rising at quite an alarming rate.

Lucy however was still trying to get over the fact that she had accomplished one of her dreams.

"I'm really here…"

This time, a man with black spiky hair wearing nothing but boxers and a silver necklace with a sword pendant popped up next to her causing her to jump.

"OI! I heard Flame Breath is back!" He pointed at Natsu. "Let's settle our fight from before!"

"Gray…" A woman with long brown hair, sky blue bikini top and red capri pants sitting on a table sighed out. "Put some clothes on, seriously…"

"OH SHI-! Where did my clothes go?!" He frantically started looking around the immediate area for his lost garments.

"It's undignified guys like you that I can't stand…" She said as she guzzled an entire **BARREL **of alcohol.

"Natsu! Fight me!" Gray shouted.

"Come back when you've got some clothes on!" Natsu retorted.

Lucy was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. The next thing she knew she was engulfed by a massive shadow. She turned her head to see a very large ivory haired man with tan skin wearing a dark blue jacket and pants combo that made her think it was some kind of uniform.

"Yapping in the middle of the day…" The giant of a man began. "You're not little kids. A man should talk with his FIS-"

He was interrupted when both Natsu and Gray decided to introduce him to the wall across the room with their fists.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" They both shouted.

"Oh my, how noisy…" This time it was another man with spiky orange hair, glasses, dark green jacket with the collar lined with fur, black cargo pants an orange shirt. He also had a woman in both arms.

_'Ah! Loki the top ranked "Mage you want to have as your boyfriend"'_

"I'll join the fight… for you two." He told his little entourage eliciting a 'kyaa, good luck!' from both.

'Image ruined…' Lucy sweat-dropped.

"Oh, a newcomer?" A voice asked behind her. She turned to see girl she thought she recognized before to realize she knew exactly who this was. She had long snow white hair with a small portion tied up above her forehead, and gorgeous blue eyes. Her attire was composed of a beautiful long red dress with pink trim and bows. The thing that really caught Lucy's eye, though, was the key attached to the necklace the woman was wearing. Being a **Celestial Spirit Mage**, she could easily tell that the key was magical in nature. It wasn't a gate key though which had her wondering.

'Come to think of it… In all of her photo shoots I've never seen her not have that key on her. It must be important to her.' She concluded. Then she remembered who was rudely staring at.

"M-Mirajane! The real one!" She exclaimed with hearts in her eyes.

Mira simply replied with a brilliant smile.

…before getting bulldozed by the body of giant man before.

"Mirajane-san!" Lucy yelped.

With a good amount of blood running down her face she weakly got out, "F-fun, isn't it?" She let out an insanely cute 'blegh' before losing consciousness.

What happened next wasn't something Lucy could comprehend fully. First the stripper from before was naked in front of her, then Loki picked her up, then the giant punched Loki only to get knocked out again by Natsu.

"Tch. Can't even drink in peace…" Cana ground out with an exasperated sigh. She lifted one of her magic cards. "Cut it out already!"

"Now I'm angry!" Gray placed a fist against his palm as mist began pouring out of his hands.

"HAAAAHHHHH!" The giant roared as his right arm turned to stone.

Loki grabbed his ring. "You guys are troublesome…"

Natsu ignited his fists with flame. "Bring it on!"

Lucy managed to catch Happy and hold him up defensively. "Fighting with magic?!"

"Aye!"

"Don't just say 'aye!'"

The guild went silent as a massive monster stomped his foot into the ground.

**"Will you cut it out already, you fools?!"** It shouted.

"Ah, so you were here, Master?" Mira asked, completely devoid of her earlier injury.

"Master?!" Lucy yelped.

"AHAHAH!" Natsu laughed. "You all got scared! That means I wi-" He suddenly became close friends with the floor as he was smashed into it by the 'Master's' foot. The creature turned its head and noticed Lucy for the first time.

**"Oh, a newcomer, hmm?"** It boomed.

"H-hai!" She squeaked.

The monster nodded before his body started to shrink, startling Lucy further. It shrunk down before it finally was revealed to be a pint sized old man wearing a very strange orange outfit with an orange and blue hat meant for jesters holding a very large bundle of papers.

He held up his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you!"

"He shrank!" She shook her head. "That aside, Mirajane-san called you 'Master'!"

"Yes, this is Makarov-san, Fairy Tail's third Master!" Mira introduced.

Makarov looked towards Mira. "Mira, have you asked her-"

Natsu appeared next to him. "I have Gramps! She passed."

Lucy was confused. "Passed? When was I tested?"

Flash back – 5 minutes before arriving at Fairy Tail

Natsu and Happy had been bombarding Lucy with points of interest on the way to the guild (their points). When Natsu suddenly asked Lucy a question. "So why do you want to join Fairy Tail?" He had a strangely serious expression that Lucy wasn't used to seeing on him. Even though they had only met hours before, she was still able to tell that that was not normal for him. But she stopped and really gave that question thought. After her mother died, she really hadn't felt like she belonged anywhere. Her father definitely didn't act like he wanted her to be there other than for business.

"I… I guess I just really want a place to fit in. A place where I belong, you know?"

"So, like a family?" Natsu simplified.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." A family. That sounded real nice.

Natsu wore his trademark grin. "Well that's what you're going to get!"

Flash back end

_'Natsu wouldn't lie about something like that, he knows better.'_ Makarov thought with a nod then looked towards Lucy.

Makarov waved his hand back and forth. "Don't worry about it." He looked towards Mira again. "I'll leave her to you Mira, but after this alright?" When she nodded, he turned and jumped up to the second floor railing. Just like the ones his hat was made for, he had managed to make a fool of himself on the way up by smacking into the railed itself before taking his place on top of It, gaining the guild's attention. He coughed into his hand before he began.

"You did it again, jerks!" He held up the bundle of papers in his possession. "Look at these papers the Council sent me, they're all complaints!" He brought the papers back down. "All you ever do is get the Council angry with me!" The guild members looked a little crestfallen at that. "However…" The bundle burst into flames. "The Council is one big pile of shit!" Makarov tossed the flames into the air for Natsu to eat. The Dragonslayer happily obliged the free meal.

"Listen up!" He began once more. "The power to overcome reason is born from reason itself! Magic is not a miraculous power. It's the synchronized and incarnated form of spirit energy particles that flow within us and in nature. It requires willpower and concentration. I mean, pouring all of your soul into whatever you do is magic." He held up his hand. "Worrying about the watchful eyes of the higher-ups, won't improve your magic. Don't be afraid of those fools in the Council, follow the path you believe in!" He clenched his hand into a fist. "And if those fools suddenly decide that following your path is against the rules, remember the words that have been in our guild since the beginning." His eyes were lit with the flames of resolve. "Those who break the rules are trash!"

Lucy was stunned. She looked around and found that no one had any problem with that statement. _'Didn't he just-'_

"But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash!"

Lucy's eyes widened.

"You're comrades will always have your back when trouble rears its ugly head! You're never alone, never forget that! That is what it truly means to be Fairy Tail!" He shouted while shoving his index finger and thumb into the air causing all to replicate the hand sign with a roar of cheers. Lucy couldn't help herself, she threw her hand into the air as well and cheered with her soon-to-be guild mates and comrades.

Perhaps she would eventually know them to be family as well.

* * *

After Makarov's very motivational speech, Lucy found herself sitting at the bar half an hour later gazing at the pink Fairy Tail emblem on the back of her right hand. _'It's official now!' _She thought with a giggle of glee. She had taken some time to find out the names of all that were present that day in the hall. She found it quite easy to remember all their names as everyone had a way of standing out from the rest. Gray with his stripping, Cana with her drinking, Elfman with his… 'manly' ways, to name a few. She was brought out of her thoughts by Mira's voice.

"Now that you've gotten to know everyone a little bit." Lucy turned to look at Mira, whom was now holding the key she wore in her hand. "How about I show you something cool, Lucy?" Mira gestured Lucy to follow her, which the blonde nodded to.

"Okay!" She got off her seat and began following Mira. _'Wonder what it is.'_ She thought. 'Oohh, maybe Mira wants to show me some of her outfits!' She had stars in her eyes at that thought as she pumped a fist. Then she spied a door with a sign that said 'Initiated members only.' _'Oorr not.' _Previous excitement level lowered but not completely gone.

Mira lifted the key to the door and a small orange magic circle appeared in-between the key and the magic lock on the door. Lucy stared at the circle while it was still there and noticed at the center was what looked like a small, grinning chibi fox face. _'Cuute~!'_

The door opened and Mira stepped aside and gestured to the door with a smile. "After you."

Lucy smiled back and walked through the door and began going down the stairs. She heard the breathing first before she saw what was making the sound. "Mira, why does it sound like something's…" She was greeted with the sight of a massive orange fox sleeping without a care in the world when she reached the bottom. "…Breathing!" She squeaked as she rushed to hide behind Mira who had just reached the bottom herself.

Mira raised a hand to cover her giggles. "Oh my, that's a giant, orange nine-tailed fox!" She said with mock astonishment and her other hand pointing at said fox.

Lucy probably would've dead panned at that if she wasn't so terrified. "I-I-I can see that!" She squeaked. "Why is it here, and why aren't you scared?!" She demanded.

It was getting real hard for Mira to suppress her giggles. No wonder the Third had never let anyone else do this up until recently! There was something magical about being the one to show Nine to someone.

"I'm not scared because he's a big part of Fairy Tail of course!"

Lucy loosened up a bit at that. But she wondered… "H-how come he's never in the Sorcerer Magazine, then?" She wasn't really thinking too far ahead in her shocked state.

Mira's expression went a bit serious, but the mirth was still there. "That's because we know what would happen if people suddenly found out we've had a giant fox in our basement since the guild was founded."

Lucy's eyes widened. "He's been here that long?!" Mira nodded. Lucy finally calmed down enough to put two and two together. "The Magic Council would probably think he was a threat or something, huh?"

Mira nodded once more. "Yes, and he's too important to Fairy Tail for that to be allowed." Before Lucy could ask what she meant, she continued. "He's our sleeping guardian; if we ever needed to call on him for help, he would be there for us." Mira walked over to the fox's snout and began rubbing the top. "Both in the physical and spiritual sense." She gazed at the fox, remembering the times he had helped her brother and her. With his help she had come to accept what had happened, but it was still a little tough to talk about. "We call him Nine Tails, Nine-san for short." She gestured for Lucy to come closer with a smile. "He won't bite, I promise." Lucy nodded after a bit of hesitation. She had to admit, she was curious about how soft his fur was.

Lucy joined Mira on the opposite side of Nine's snout and began rubbing some of the fur on it as well. _'So soft…' _She thought with wide eyes. As she continued petting Nine, she began to feel something she had thought she'd never be able to experience ever again. It was a very warm and comfortable feeling that she realized was coming from the fox. 'It… It feels like how I always felt around Momma…' Tears began welling up as she thought of her late mother.

Mira could recognize that expression anywhere. "What I meant that he's there for us spiritually is that he's a good listener." Lucy looked at Mira, not caring about saving face in the presence of her idol. "He'll lend you his ear so you can get whatever you need to off your chest." Mira nodded in understanding and made for the stairs. "Stay for as long as you need Lucy." Lucy replied with a nod; she didn't trust her voice not to break at the moment. She waited for the sound of the door closing before flood gates fully opened. She leaned her body into his snout and buried her face in the fox's fur in an attempt to control her sobs. After a few minutes of this, she lifted her face and stared at the wet spot in the fur. She idly noted to come back later to clean that, before she maneuvered her way in-between the fox's limbs, sat down and leaned her back against his fur. She took a moment to collect herself before she began.

"Hi, Nine-san. *sniff* My name is Lucy Heartfilia and I want to tell you about my Momma…"

It would be a few hours before Lucy emerged from the basement.

* * *

Present time – Year X784

* * *

Even while he slept he could feel the power of the blast. He could feel the desperation behind the one that had stopped it. And he could feel the resolve of those protected from it. The shockwave created by the blast was the straw that broke the camel's back as the already crippled guild hall collapsed. The seal that had last almost a century was broken and with that he began to awaken. The fail safe had been activated. Under pile of broken wood and stone a single red eye with a black slit opened and glowed with rage.

The events prior to awakening

A fist was slammed into the wall of Fairy Tail's bath house. The steam was thick but bright scarlet hair gave away the room's occupant.

_'Damnit!'_

Erza slammed her fist against the wall once more.

_'If only I had gone with the Master, we wouldn't be in this situation!'_ She closed her eyes and went through their options. _'The Master is out-of-comission and Mystogan and Laxus are gone. Many are injured as well, is it even possible to continue this war?'_ She clenched her teeth. _'If only we knew where Master kept Nine-san's awakening seal!'_

***CRASH… CRASH… CRASH…* **

Her eyes shot open at what seemed like the sound of giant steps. Whatever it was, all it meant was trouble. She immediately grabbed her pink towel, wrapped up, and dashed outside of the guild with everyone else to see the source of the steps. When she laid her eyes on said source she could hardly believe them. A castle was seemingly attempting its best impression of a spider and was lumbering towards the guild via the sea. 'Phantom…' She thought with a fierce scowl.

"W-what the hell is that?!" She knew the voice belonged to Natsu but her full attention was being taken by the castle.

"The guild is walking!" She heard Happy say.

"Phantom?!" Loki this time.

"W-what are we going to do?!" Wakaba uttered weakly.

As the guild drew closer Erza was shaking slightly, be it from fear or from fury, she couldn't tell.

"Who could have anticipated this method of attack?!"

Finally, Phantom's guild castle came to a rest. The front wall began lowering to reveal a massive cannon barrel. The barrel extended to its full length once the wall had finished lowering. Not even a second after it finished extending, it began forming a massive dark ball of magic. The intent was obvious. Erza's eyes widened.

"EVERYONE! TAKE COVER!" She shouted at her family.

She heard cries of objection as she began running in front of everyone.

"YOU'RE NOT HURTING MY COMRADES!" She yelled defiantly. She was then surrounded by bright golden light as she **Requipped **into her strongest defensive armor: The Adamantine Armor. It covers her head to toe in thick, heavy silver and black armor. The most defining feature were the two massive shield halves on each forearm.

The cannon had charged its attack enough and fired a massive blast of magic that parted the sea it was standing in directly at Fairy Tail.

"TAKE COVER!" She shouted once more before slamming her arms together, making the shield whole. This produced an extremely large green magic circle that took the full brunt of the blast. "NGH!" She grunted. 'Too much power…' She shook her head slightly. 'NO! I must protect everyone!' She roared in her mind. Her shield began to crack under the pressure of the blast and she knew she only had a few seconds left at best. 'Just a little more!' Finally the strain was too much and her armor exploded into tiny bits as she forced to **Requip **into a casual outfit to conserve magic. Fortunately, her efforts were not in vain as she was able to block the shot from hurting any of her comrades. She was panting heavily, but her lips twitched into a small smile at the small victory.

"A… Amazing. She actually stopped it." Macao breathed.

"Everyone… The Guild…" Alzac spoke through a slightly broken voice.

But the smile was wiped away as she saw that, because of the shockwave created from her and the blast, the guild hall had finally crumbled. 'No…' She thought as she lowered he head to rest for a bit.

"THOSE BASTARDS!" Natsu roared. He ran over to Erza to check to see if she was alright. "Erza, hang in there!"

["Makarov and now Erza; both have been incapacitated."] Spoke the Master of Phantom Lord, Jose Porla, through an intercom system.

Erza opened her eyes and turned her head to glare at Phantom.

["You have no chance for victory now. Hand over Lucy Heartfilia. Right. Now."] Jose demanded.

"You have to be kidding!" Alzac shouted.

"There isn't a Guild that would present a member to an enemy!" Bisca added.

"Lucy is our comrade!" Macao roared.

"That's right!" The rest of Fairy Tail chimed in.

It was at that point Erza found her voice once more.

"WE'D RATHER DIE THEN SELL OUT OUR COMRADES!" She shouted in rage.

_*__**RRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR***_

Everyone present was shocked into silence by that terrifying roar. Even Jose inched himself back into his seat slightly at the dreadful sound.

All eyes went to the crumbled remains of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall as a massive fox erupted from the debris. He was easily the size of the former building, much bigger than what the members had remembered him to be.

_*__**RRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR***_

It roared once more. Before focusing its blazing red eyes on the source of the power that had stirred it from its slumber. They narrowed slightly before lowering to gaze at the forms of the Fairy Tail members. They softened at the sight.

**"Well said everyone, I would expect no less of a member of Fairy Tail." **His voice definitely had a demonic edge to it, but not a single Fairy Tail mage found it frightening. In fact, the feeling they got whenever they visited the fox was now engulfing them, encouraging them to no give up.

_'Nine-san… it's really him…'_ Was the general thought shared between all present Fairy Tail mages.

Nine shifted his attention back to the Phantom Guild. **"Now…" **To the Fairy Tail mages Nine suddenly disappeared then reappeared [**Shunshin(Body Flicker)**] in front of them, STANDING on the ocean. Their attention was drawn to Nine's back as they had not had a good look at it because of his sleeping position. On it was a massive black Fairy Tail Guild Mark.

_'Just like Rob…'_ Erza thought with a small smile.

**"WHO THE HELL IS ATTACKING MY FAMILY?!" **Nine roared.

Jose's eyes widened and, in a momentary lapse in judgment caused by a fearful mind after what he had just witnessed, turned to his **Jupiter Cannon** Operators. "FIRE THE JUPITER CANNON NOW!" He shouted, not caring that his voice was still being broadcasted.

**"Hn. As if I'd let you."** Nine said cryptically. Nine lifted his head to the sky and shifted his tails to point up and around his head as well. To everyone's astonishment, and in half the cases fear, orbs of black and white energy began forming above the fox's mouth. That wasn't magic. The orbs kept slowing flowing into a point and began forming a dark purple ball of condensed energy. Once Nine was satisfied with ball he promptly consumed the ball then lowered his head at the Phantom guild before reopening his mouth and firing the ball at it. Similar to what the **Jupiter Cannon** accomplished, The ball also parted the waters in the wake of its devastating power. It soared into the barrel of the cannon and detonated halfway inside of it causing a massive explosion and eradicated the barrel and revealed the massive lacrima that served as its power source.

All that had witnessed it were staring with wide eyes and mouths agape.

"S-such power" Erza breathed, speaking what everyone was thinking.

**"Tch. It seems I still need to finish waking up, that should've taken out the power source as well." **

If everyone wasn't so surprised at that statement they probably would've sweat dropped.

Nine turned it's gaze back over his family, looking over the members trying to figure who was who. He quickly went over what he knew about everyone. Erza Scarlet was probably the easiest to find as she was the only one with that hair color. Gray Fullbuster was another one, the amount of times someone complained to him about the boy and his stripping habits wasn't something he could forget. The one with spiky black hair was the only one not wearing a shirt so it was obvious that was Gray. The others were a bit more difficult without being able to hear the voice associated with the name. Seeing as how Erza was out-of-commission at the moment, he quickly picked out a list of ones capable of mounting an offensive.

**"Gray Fullbuster. Natsu Dragneel. Elfman Strauss." **Each one visibly flinched at their name being called. They weren't afraid, they just hadn't been expecting that. Nine nodded slightly as he was able to put a face to the other two names. All three seemed to be fit for combat which was exactly what he wanted.

"Hai!" Was the simultaneous response from the three.

Nine grinned. **"Our counter attack begins with you three."**

This caused all three to match the fox's grin.

* * *

Woo! Chapter 5 completed. I figured that was a good little cliff hanger to leave off on. :P It's a bit shorter than I would've liked but I've felt like a scumbag for taking this long so I wanted to get SOMETHING out for you all.

**Now onto discussing all the things.**

First off I'd like to clarify that Jose DOES know about the recharge time, obviously, but in his momentary lapse of judgment due to the sudden fear he felt he simply acted on instinct.

Secondly, Naruto at the moment is incredibly weak. He just woke up and the first thing he does is Bijudama the Jupiter Cannon in the face, so now it's going to take a bit longer for him to reach full strength. This canon battle will be from his point of view and what he will being doing while the other fight off the Element Four.

Thirdly, the pairing has still yet to be correctly guessed! MWUAHAHAHAH! Told you it hasn't been done before. ;D

**Onto stuff slightly less** story-relevant.

**A Facebook or Twitter dedicated page for my stories, yay or nay? I'll throw a poll up with a few options.** I want to do this so I can interact with you all more and so I can keep you updated with how the next chapter is progressing! It's one or the other though, I fear I won't be able to keep both updated without losing my mind.

Several reasons why this chapter took so long: Phantasy Star Online 2, Starbound, Log Horizon. My god these three things just sucked up a lot of my time and I found myself playing/watching into the wee hours of the morning. ;-; On that note though I would like to officially recommend Log Horizon to all that enjoy .hack/ and Sword Art Online! Let me set up the premise of the story for you real quick to whet your appetite:

Imagine your favorite MMO, could be WoW/Guild Wars/DCUO/Eve Online/Tera/PSO2 etc etc. You've played those games for years, with thousands of hours logged. Now imagine a new expansion comes out and you buy and hell! It really breathed life back into the game for you, it's fun as hell! WHOOP! now you're suddenly inside the game as your character, what do?

That's essentially exactly how the story is set up. I thought it was alright until about the 7th or 8th episode then I fell in absolute love with it. It's only 11 episodes so far with a new one every friday night I think. Go watch it, seriously!

**Finally, please let me know of spelling mistakes! I tend to miss them a lot. ;-;**

And that's the end of this chapter's segment of "Discussing All the Things with Soah!" *catchy 5 second tune*

See you next chapter! :D


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